Show Their Will
by SkyeFinal
Summary: Thrown into the KHR world I had no idea what I was doing here and why it had to be me...but might as well make the best of it, right? [Self-Insert]
1. Load 1: Resolve

_Load I: Resolve  
-Skyefinal_

* * *

_Choose_. A voiced whispered around me, it tugged me into consciousness.

I opened my eyes and saw black.

"Well, can't choose anything if it's pitch black." Yes, I do speak out loud to random voices in the air. Helps me collect my thoughts. "Okay, random voice in the air. I'm floating or in a liquid medium that lets me breathe air. Conclusion: this is a dream."

I twisted my head around to find anything as a clue. Even if this is a dream, still a pretty cool dream. Besides the whole dark thing.

_Choose._

"Uh…Did you not hear me?" For some reason I tilted my head upwards. Voices tend to be above you right? "There's nothing to choose, except nothing. So…I choose nothing?"

_Show me your resolve._

Seven lights flickered into life in front of me and nearly destroyed my retinas. "Ow…" I dropped my hand and stared at the assortment of colours. "Pretty…"

Orange, red, blue, yellow, green, purple and a blue-purple light blazed in a semi-circle surrounding me. _No, not blue-purple, indigo?_ I corrected in my head.

"Okay…I got a rainbow of fire going on. Chemistry is so involved here." I placed my hands on my hips. "Iodine makes purple flames, right? Ugh, wish I remembered what the other ones are."

_Are you the sky? Or are you a phenomena? _

"I'm human?" I stupidly answered. I received no answer back just like I expected. I glanced at the flames. Lifting a hand towards the orange flame, I was surprised at the lack of pain, but incredible warmth engulfing my hand. Normally, flames would be uncontrollable and consume everything into ashes, but this one felt calm, accepting. The red flame was the opposite; I snatched my hand back from the intensity of it. "Okay, red is not calm. Don't touch that one."

I dubbed the flames based on their colours, so original right? "Green is crackling over there like electricity, definitely not touching that one. Yellow is way too bright, kinda hurts to look at it actually." I mused. "Purple seems okay, I think." I reached out a hand to purple and before I could touch it the flames burst into smaller clouds of flames and dodged my hands. "Okay, purple doesn't like being touched."

"How about indigo?" I extended my hand to poke at indigo, but missed. "Huh?" I kept trying to lightly poke at indigo, but every time I misjudged the distance and missed. I rubbed my eyes, "I know I have glasses, but I don't think my depth perception is _that _bad…" I gave up touching indigo, it felt like the flame was toying around with me.

"That leaves blue?" Wearily approaching the last flame, I was surprised to find it just floating there as I gently cupped it in my hands. I raised an eyebrow, this one felt cool instead of warm. _Well, not like the other fires were normal. This one is feels calm, a different kind of calm from the orange one. _

_So you have chosen. Not the one that encompasses all but the one that washes everything away._

Snapping my head back up, I shouted angrily. "So mind explaining to me what you want with me? Flames are cool and all, but this is kind of weird."

_Be the tranquil rain that settles conflicts and washes everything away. _

The monotone voiced was replaced by a warmer, happier voice.

_This one wishes you luck!_

"Wait! What do you mean?"

Before I could shout anymore into thin air, the blue flames in my hand roared into life and flew straight into my chest. It knocked me back despite the fact I was floating beforehand and I felt myself fall into the dark abyss. Warm hazel eyes were the last thing I saw before blacking out.

* * *

"_Hey, did you read the thing I sent to you online last night?"_

"_Yeah, it was pretty cool! Thanks by the way, just what I wanted to read after obsessing about the series for so long."_

"_Maybe you could write one when you have time, after finals and assignments and other school related things."_

"_Haha, but who would read it?"_

"_I would."_

"_Heh, thanks!"_

* * *

A muffled conversation woke me up from my sleep. I kept my eyes closed and tried to keep my breathing steady as footsteps walked away from where I was sleeping. Weird, if it was my family coming to wake me up they wouldn't talk like that. They would shake me, or in my sister's case, scream obnoxiously loud to scare the crap out of me. Also, my bed wasn't this hard before was it?

_I got kidnapped by some nice kidnappers, I guess. They didn't bind my hands or feet, but let me sleep on something soft. Time to wake up, grab something that could be a weapon, break my way out, and get home._

I groaned, feeling stiff and groggy. "Yeah, like that's going to happen." I sat up and surveyed the room. It wasn't too small or too large, it was quite homey actually. Beige walls, a wooden dresser, tatami mats and sliding doors made up the room. "Wait, tatami mats? I've never seen a house in Canada that had tatami mats before."

My hands bumped into an object next to my head. Seeing it was my black-framed glasses I put those on. _Yay for HD vision! _I stood up, and feeling that I should show some politeness, fixed up the bed that I was sleeping on, which was a futon mat. "Okay, I'm definitely in a Japanese-style house."

I carefully slid open the door and tiptoed downstairs. My walk led me to an empty living room. "Hello?" I called out, noticing sounds like a chair scraping against a floor behind a door, I opened it to find a restaurant. It was a decent-sized restaurant, maybe catering towards families as I noticed the cute pictures and colour pencils in a box next to me.

A young voice piped up and I finally noticed the pair sitting on the counter. The older, the father most likely, stood up and asked a question. It took me a few seconds to realize they were speaking in Japanese. _Duh, I mean, there were tatami mats and a futon, of course they speak Japanese!_

"Sorry," I stammered in my hesitant Japanese. I took one university course to learn Japanese, but it's been so long since I've spoken it. Well, seriously that is. I remembered eating dim sum with my cousins and the ridiculous phrases my sister and my eldest cousin would say to me to 'test' my vocabulary. "Thank you for, um, letting me sleep? In your house?"

Ahh, my good old broken style of speaking Japanese rises once more.

The elder chuckled, thank goodness he noticed I wasn't fluent in Japanese. He spoke slowly but not too slow to treat me as if I was stupid. "You don't have to thank us. Are you alright? No pains?"

I shook my head. I felt groggy, but I felt no pain.

"It's good to see you up! You gave us a scare, sleeping on the streets like that!" The younger said to me. I smiled at him before backtracking what he said.

"I was sleeping on the streets?" I panicked. Was I walking by myself and just fainted on the spot? That's embarrassing.

"Haha, yeah! Luckily my dad found you." He grinned at his father. "He would've brought you to the hospital but it was all filled up because of Hibari. He found an entire underground gang selling drugs and put them all in the hospital. Dad said you didn't have any injuries so he felt you could just sleep it off here. Today's a Sunday so it's the shop's day-off."

I stared at him, my mind trying really, really hard to figure out what he just said. I heard hospital, Hibari, gang, full, and Sunday equals a day-off for this shop. But I was able to figure out what he meant. "I understand." I bowed to both of them, "Thank you for your hospitality."

"So polite," The elder laughed, he gently brought me out of bow. "Would you like to use the phone to call your parents?"

"Yes please." He brought out a wireless phone. I dialed my home number and heard a string of…not my mother language explaining something. I held the phone to the older, "I don't understand."

He listened to the string of words and his face went grave. "Which country were you calling to?"

I tilted my head, confused. "Canada, why?"

He shook his head. "You're in Namimori, Japan."

_Fuck._

* * *

The younger man led me to their living room and we both sat down. I dropped my head into my hands. "How the hell did I get from Canada to Japan!?" I yelled into my hands. I didn't have my passport on me, last I remembered, so I traveled illegally. Great, how much trouble am I with my country that I had to resort to illegal traveling?

"Haha," I peeked through my fingers to stare at the male. "I forgot to introduce myself to you before. My name is Yamamoto Takeshi! Nice to meet ya!"

I smiled. "Nice to meet you, Yamamoto-san."

_Wait, where did I hear that name before?_

We chatted for a few minutes. It was relatively successful, I paused a few times to collect my thoughts and trying to not screw up my Japanese. It also gave me time to figure out where I heard Yamamoto's name.

_Hibari. Namimori. Yamamoto Takeshi. Calm down, calm down. Just because those three names popped up doesn't mean its true. They're pretty common names. I think. Is Namimori even real? It must be. It's not like I could randomly pop into an anime world right?_

"Your Japanese is pretty good! Where did you learn?"

"I took a course in university."

"Eh!? You're in university?" Yamamoto exclaimed. "How old are you?"

"Twenty."

"Man, I thought you were still in high school. You definitely don't need to add the 'san' then. I'm still in my last year of elementary." I laughed, thanking him for his compliment. It was rare to be mistaken for being younger, most people would think I was older for some reason.

"Then Yamamoto-kun."

_Yeah! There's no way, he's still in elementary. If I remember, the series started during their middle school year. _

I took my time to look at Yamamoto. He had typical Asian looks: short, black hair and warm, hazel eyes. He was pretty tall too, I had to slightly tilt my head to face him and if he's still in elementary then he'll keep growing. I silently cursed my short height. Hmm, if he was in my high school all the girls would be crushing on him. Although aged, Yamamoto-san looked very similar to Yamamoto. Maybe if he was younger they could be twins.

"By the way, what's your name?"

"My name is…" I stilled. I couldn't remember my name. It wouldn't pop into my head. "I can't remember…"

I bit my lip, slipping back into English. "Okay, calm down. Think carefully. You can't be an amnesiac and forget your name only right? What's _ga je_'s name? Wait, I still remember Cantonese so that's good right? Ah shit, I can't remember her name. Shit shit, flipin' shit."

Did I mention that I swear a lot when I'm stressed?

"No swearing in my house young lady." Elder Yamamoto sternly reprimanded.

_Eep. _"Sorry."

"I called your home number again, luckily I had a long-distance card." He sighed, "But the number doesn't call to anywhere. In short, no one has that phone number."

"Could I try?" Yamamoto-san handed me the card and showed me how to dial. I tried my dad's cell, my mom's, and my sister's. In desperation, I even dialed my cousin's number but all resulted in a Japanese lady telling me that the number is not in use.

"Well, crap." I rubbed the bridge of my nose. Please head, now is not the time to get a headache. "Okay, thank you Yamamoto-san for calling. I shouldn't, um, cause you another more trouble." Speaking formal Japanese is so hard. Those hours watching idol variety shows and learning more slang and informal way of speaking is so not helping now. Why can I remember the unimportant things, but not my name or my family's? "I'll head out now."

"Where will you go?" Yamamoto-san asked, crossing his arms. "A young lady like you, who can't speak Japanese, wandering without any money or a destination?"

"Er. Well I was hoping to go to…" I paused, trying to find the proper word. When in doubt, trying saying the word in English. "Embassy?"

"Do you even have identification?" He asked, before gently. "Or even a home to go to?"

"…"

He was right. Even if I went to an embassy, I would need some form of ID, my airplane ticket and other things. How could I explain that I just woke up one day in Japan when I came from Canada? And if the numbers I dialed aren't in use…does that mean my family doesn't exist?

That I shouldn't even exist now?

"Hey dad, why not let her stay with us?" Yamamoto suddenly asked. "She's too old to go to a _kojiin_. She could help you with the shop too!"

"Whoa, I can't do that!" I protested. I just met them today! And what if they really are who I think they are, it would be even more awkward! "What is a _kojiin_ anyways? Why can't I go there?"

"It's a place for children who don't have parents." Yamamoto-san explained.

Oh, an orphanage.

"But, I can't just suddenly live with you!" I continued to argue.

"Why not? It'll be fun!" I suddenly envisioned a tall, brown-haired basketball player. No, nope, not going there.

"I'll be a bother!" In desperation, I tried another approach. "For all you know, I could be a killer!" Thank you anime, for teaching me that vocabulary.

"Actually, it might be a good idea." Yamamoto and I whipped our heads to the adult in the room.

"What?"

"Knew you would say yes."

The two proceeded to have a conversation that I could not follow at all. Dang, fluent people are really fast in speaking Japanese. The younger smiled and laughed as if he won the conversation. The elder sighed and turned to me.

"You can earn your keep here." Yamamoto-san bargained. "Earn enough to travel back to Canada and find your family. We're the only ones to understand your situation, not everyone in Namimori is that understanding and willing to help a complete stranger."

He let me digest all that information before continuing. "Also, this is quite sudden but I have been wanting to hire a person to help with the shop and home." He gestured me to look around the room. It wasn't dirty, but books and clothing were strewn around and dust was starting to pile up. "As two males, we're not that good cleaning. My son here is into baseball while I'm only good for is running our sushi shop."

I wanted to ask what happened to the female of the house, but I held my tongue. It wasn't any of my business. I went over my choices in my head. Yamamoto-san made a compelling argument, they knew my situation and they're nice. So very nice. I have no home, I can't reach my family, what's there to lose? I felt sudden warmth in my chest, I instantly felt calm. My fears of the Yamamoto family being serial murderers or suspicious people faded away. I decided to trust my instincts.

"Okay." I gave a tiny grin. "You win."

Yamamoto cheered.

"I forgot to introduce myself, my name is Yamamoto Tsuyoshi. You can call me Tsuyoshi, I look forward to working with you."

I spluttered out my own words in return, trying hard to convey my gratitude for allowing me to live in his house. His smile told me he understood what my limited Japanese was trying to say. "And your name?"

I deflated. "I don't remember it."

"Shall we give you a name?" Yamamoto suggested. "Until you remember yours."

"Okay," I shrugged. "Do you have a suggestion?"

"We found you in the rain last night." Yamamoto made a thinking pose. "So…Amaya? Haha, I can give you a nickname too!" He grabbed a nearby pen and pad. "Here, this is how you write it."

He turned the pad so I could see, the characters for rain and night made up Amaya.

"Not a very bright name though," Tsuyoshi commented.

"It's perfect." I smiled. "I'm also not a bright person."

"With that done, we can say that you are a distant relative working at the shop. No one would ask for more details." I nodded, a pretty simply cover story." Tsuyoshi stretched, "Time to go shopping then."

"Eh?"

"You didn't have any bags with you when we found you. You can't live on only one set of clothing." I looked down at what I was wearing, realizing now I was wearing a large shirt and shorts. They were obviously men's. Yeah, I needed more clothes. "Just checking, who changed me?"

Yamamoto blushed. "Our family friend, _female friend_, Mizuki-san! Of course we wouldn't change your clothes."

I laughed. "Just checking."

"Your clothes are in the washroom, it's probably dry by now." I went upstairs and found a brown sweater, green shorts, and black tights hanging on the shower curtain rod. Yeah, I was correct in saying I wasn't a bright person, even my clothes are kinda bland. Meh, they were comfortable and that's all that matters. Checking the pockets, I found my purple bead bracelet and slipped that on my left wrist. I remember it was my aunt who gave me this as a ghost-warding Asian charm thing, but it became my good-luck charm instead.

I changed, putting the male clothing into the hamper and looked into the mirror. Mid back-length black hair and side bangs and brown eyes stared back at me. No one would question if I was really a distant relative, one of the perks about being Asian I assumed. I weaved a hand through my hair, trying my best to untangle it. "I need a haircut." I went down back to the shop.

"Takeshi, could you watch the shop? We'll be back in time for our guest."

"Isn't the shop closed today?" I asked, as all three of us walked towards the backdoor. I found my brown boots and slipped those on.

"Ah, we always have a Sunday guest."

"Oh."

Waving goodbye to Yamamoto, Tsuyoshi and I headed down to the streets. Shopping with Tsuyoshi wasn't that awkward as I thought. He explained that there weren't any malls, but street stores were available to buy clothing. That suited me just fine, it reminded me of Hong Kong. I insisted that I get the bare minimum, but Tsuyoshi fought back, arguing that females should own more clothing, and he actually had a better fashion sense then me. I got jeans, sweaters, t-shirts, socks, and embarrassingly enough, female-specific clothing (he stood outside the shop this time) and bathroom necessities. I cringed at the price tag and held my ground when I said I would work for the clothing to pay Tsuyoshi back.

While Tsuyoshi led me around Namimori, I tried to compare the town to what I remember. If I had to compare it with another town, I would say it reminded me of Sha Tin, my aunt's village in Hong Kong. Tsuyoshi pointed out the residential area, shopping area, the parks and other administrative buildings. It was quite similar with its layout, even the large land of forest-y area past the residents' zone. While we were strolling back to Tsuyoshi's shop, voices called out to Tsuyoshi. Greetings and introductions were passed around as Tsuyoshi clarified who I was to his friends and acquaintances. I smiled awkwardly and kept bowing my head, trying hard to understand their words. Finally they went away and it was just us to walking in a comfortable silence.

"So this is what shopping with a daughter feels like." Tsuyoshi mused, carrying half of my bags. "Not a bad feeling."

"Believe me, it could be a lot worse." I remember shopping with my sister and she would take forever choosing her clothes. "Thank you for the clothes."

"Ah, but you're going to be paying me back." Tsuyoshi's eyes twinkled. "So technically, they are yours."

"True." I laughed. Grinning up at Tsuyoshi, I teased him a bit. "You sound like the type of father to spoil their daughters."

"I envisioned a son and a daughter." Tsuyoshi admitted. "Even Takeshi wanted a sister. I have to say though, Takeshi is friendly but he doesn't really stick to people." He glanced at me from the corner of his eyes. "This is the first time he has approved of someone helping me in the shop. All the other applicants he didn't like."

I didn't have a reply. I just ducked my head and murmured something about Tsuyoshi exaggerating and that his son is just really kind.

"Be his friend, please." Tsuyoshi faced me, his eyes a bit pained. "There's only so much I can do as a father."

I nodded, staring back at those eyes. Tsuyoshi smiled, patting me on the head. We rounded the corner and saw the sushi shop, this time I was able to see the name, TakeSushi. _Okay, well it's kinda common. The sushi shop near where I lived had the same name. _I slid open the door, "Yamamoto-kun, we've returned!"

"Too noisy." A grumpy voice responded and I saw a glint of silver. _Oh my god are those tonfas!? _"Who are you, _soushokujuu?_"

"Now now, Hibari-kun." Tsuyoshi clamped a hand onto my shoulder, grounding me. I realized that I was shivering, those eyes are scary! "This is my distant relative's daughter. She's going to help out at the shop now."

"Hmph." Hibari turned away. "I want the assorted sushi today."

"Okay." Tsuyoshi replied. "Let me just get my niece settled in and I'll make your order."

Carefully treading to make no noise, I toed off my boots and rushed to the living room in the back. Tsuyoshi chuckled and led me back to the room where I was sleeping earlier. "This is your room now, after you're done putting your clothes away head back down. Hibari-kun's not that bad, he won't attack females."

I nodded, slightly reassured. It didn't take me long to put all my clothes away, since I made sure to not buy so much, I padded back downstairs.

_Okay, so there's a Yamamoto Takeshi, Yamamoto Tsuyoshi, their shop TakeSushi, a Hibari person, and I'm in Namimori, Japan. How on earth did I get transported into an anime world!? Wait, maybe they got inspired by the anime and made the shop. I mean Yamamoto is a common family name right? RIGHT? And Hibari could be a common family name too. _

I stopped before the door to the restaurant, taking deep breathes. _Okay, if Hibari's first name is Kyouya, then I'll accept the fact that I may have ended up in the world of Katekyo Hitman Reborn._

"Maya! Come meet Hibari." _Maya? My nickname for now I guess, he did say he could give me one. _Yamamoto waved me over. He slung an arm over Hibari and I could literally feel the killing intent from the other. "This is Hibari Kyouya, if you're ever in trouble this is the guy to go to in Namimori. He's kinda like the police guy around here."

_Shit. _

"O-okay…" I watched as Hibari flung Yamamoto's arm off and bonked him on the head with his tonfa. His _metal _tonfa.

"Yamamoto-kun!" I quickly inspected his head while the he just laughed. He waved me off saying it was Hibari's way of expressing his love. "I don't know about that…"

"_Soushokujuu_, don't touch me." Hibari hissed out. I looked confused at the _soushokujuu _word and Yamamoto explained what it was. Oh right, Hibari refers to everyone has herbivores.

Yamamoto continued his introductions. "And this is Amaya, or Maya for short! She's still learning Japanese, so be patient with her okay Hibari?" He didn't respond, but I didn't care, he's like a ticking time bomb waiting to explode and unleash his fury on everyone. "By the way Maya, how come you don't call me by my first name?"

"Uh well…" Why did I not call Yamamoto his first name, I thought. "Isn't it rude?"

"We're relatives, remember?" Tsuyoshi came out with a platter of assorted sushi, placing the dish in front of Hibari. _Were Yamamoto and Hibari friends before?_

"Takeshi-kun." I tried out the name.

Takeshi smiled, seeing his grin called me to smile as well. Maybe living in this world might not be so bad.

_If only I knew why and how I got here, and for what?_

* * *

_AN: _In the middle of the night this popped up in my head. We'll see how this goes, I need to re-read the Daily Life Arcs again to make sure I don't miss any important events. Well, I'm still in the prologue stage so that'll be maybe 2-3 more chapters? I'll try to change things up a bit so it's not that predictable.

Edit: fixed up my weird habit of inserting random words that aren't needed.


	2. Load 2: The Sky, The Cloud, The Rain

_Load II: The Sky, The Cloud, The Rain  
-Skyefinal_

* * *

I yawned and raised my arms above my head. Birds chirping reached my ears as I opened the windows. _Clear skies with a slight wind, better do laundry first before cleaning. _With blearily eyes I removed my covers from the futon, folded the futon and placed it in the closet. The covers I left on the ground for now to put later in the machine, I needed to do this before I started the laundry. Gathering my clothes, newspaper and a pair of scissors, I silently headed towards the washroom.

It's been a week since I've started living with the Yamamoto family. I slowly got used to the life here. Every morning I would help unpack the seafood delivery with Tsuyoshi, set-up the inside of the restaurant while Tsuyoshi prepares the fish and other things, wake up Takeshi, eat breakfast together and see him off to school. The shop opens then and a couple of customers trickle in the shop. I manage to handle light conversation with some regulars, that have known Tsuyoshi since elementary, to practice with my Japanese skills. Sometimes though the conversation goes into a weird swing and judging by the disapproving glare Tsuyoshi sends to them, it's not appropriate for my ears. He never tells me what they are saying though.

Lunch rush happens and I forgo conversation in order to make sure I get customer's orders right. Thankfully from volunteering at my faculty's café I knew how to handle the craziness of lunch rush. I distinctly remember I was always scheduled in the afternoon, where hungry students finishing class stampeding down to get our limited supply of entrees. After lunch rush was dish washing since there was usually is a lull after lunch, nothing Tsuyoshi can't handle by himself. I surprised Tsuyoshi when I said I actually liked washing dishes. From all the adrenaline rush of lunch hour, maintaining a smile to welcome customers and dealing with all that noise, it was welcoming to head to the back and simply clean where it's only you and the quiet noise of water and squeaky clean dishes.

"There's something nice about cleaning dishes." I pointed a soapy finger accusingly at Tsuyoshi. "Also if you wash them now and instead at the end of the day, you can end faster when the shop closes. And don't tell me you do wash dishes in the middle of the day…" I opened up a cabinet filled to the brim with plates, I opened up another that was filled with cups and utensils. "Because here you have enough to last you through the day until closing."

Tsuyoshi sheepishly laughed. "You caught me."

I shook my head. "How you survived without hiring a helper is amazing."

Finishing the dishes, I took the front again welcoming more customers. Glancing at the clock, which was nearing three in the afternoon, I went into the kitchen. Preparing a small side salad, sushi from Tsuyoshi and a cup of green tea, I brought the food out onto the counter with a lid overtop. Thirty minutes after, the door slid open and Takeshi came in. Smiling, I gestured towards the food and welcomed him back home along with Tsuyoshi.

After eating, Takeshi would demand Tsuyoshi to let him help out but like every other day that Takeshi had asked Tsuyoshi said no. Instead, he would casually comment that maybe if Takeshi had finished his homework first, without rushing, maybe he would let Takeshi help out. With a pout, Takeshi went into his room to finish. If the homework was easy, Takeshi would come down at five, but if it was a bit difficult he would be down at six.

I was glad for the extra help, dinnertime could also be a bit overwhelming. Dinnertime was the time for families to pop in, and that meant children. Children never liked me, but they do like Takeshi a lot. He dealt with the children with a patience of a saint; I only awkwardly smiled when they talked to me.

When the clock was fifteen minutes away from nine, Tsuyoshi announced it was near closing time. It was a good time to close I thought, no drunk people would come in and it gave enough time for Tsuyoshi to spend time with his son. I flipped the open sign to closed and cleared the tables. Takeshi collected bills while Tsuyoshi cleaned his area from behind the counter. I moved the clean dishes to the front while Takeshi washed and in no time the shop was all ready for a next day of work. All three of us ate dinner and listened to Takeshi telling us of his day of boring lessons and baseball with his classmates. Following dinner was bath time (which I enjoyed because I could soak in hot water) and then I spent my evenings reading a book I found in the bookstore called 'Japanese for idiots', not the nicest titles but it did help me improve my grammar and expand my vocabulary.

It was an ordinary routine and I loved it.

Shutting the bathroom door behind me, I laid the newspaper over the sink. Letting my side bangs and two large strands of hair on each side of my head free, I gathered the rest of my hair into a low ponytail. Humming, I trimmed my side bangs so they rest above my eyebrows and the two strands of hair were cut just a bit below my chin. Angling my head around to check if I left anything uneven, I nodded to myself. "Not bad. Onto the last part!"

I held onto my ponytail and cut it off. Making sure to not spill any strands to the ground, I trimmed my hair to get rid of the straight-broom cut look and made the ends pointier, the back was a bit hard but I managed to work out a technique of blindly cutting. Fluffing up my hair and giving it another check at my bob cut, I bundled up the newspaper and headed downstairs to throw it away. I ran into Tsuyoshi along the way into the kitchen.

"Oh!" Tsuyoshi eyed my new haircut. "Looks good! Maybe you can cut my hair from now on."

"If you want to look bald be my guest." I warned Tsuyoshi as we entered the kitchen. I dumped the newspaper into the garbage and washed my hands. Tsuyoshi warmed up the grill while I peeled some strawberries, pears, and apples for a fruit salad.

"What type of fish are you grilling?"

"Mackerel."

_No, do not laugh. If you laugh now you'll have to explain and that'll be awkward. _When I had the chance, I went on the Internet to see if my address was still there. Using Google Earth, my address was registered on it, but the house appearance was not what I knew. It wasn't my house anymore. Out of curiosity, I also tried searching up certain anime series like _Katekyo Hitman Reborn_, but obviously that was non-existent. However, I did find series like _Shiroko no Basuke_ and _Ski!_. Even in an anime world there was a fear of copyright infringement. There wasn't a 'shadow' or a mackerel-loving swimmer, but a basketball player that blinds his opponents on court because he was too bright and a high-school student that loved to ski. _If only I had some pineapple to go with the mackerel._

"Go ahead and wake up Takeshi, Maya." Tsuyoshi patted me on the shoulder, breaking me from my thoughts of pineapples and mackerel. "I can plate the food."

Nodding, I washed my hands once more and headed to Takeshi's room. I slid open the door and found a Takeshi lump under his futon sleeping soundly. "Takeshi-kun, wake up." I said in a sing-song voice. A grunt was my reply. Biting back my laugh, I opened up his curtains, blasting the dim room with the sun. I ripped the covers off of Takeshi and sadistically relished his groan of pain. I wish I was able to wake up my sister like this, but her room was on the ground floor where sun couldn't reach her room.

"Maya…" Takeshi whined. He blindly waved a hand around. "Why?"

I folded the covers and dumped it on his head. "Breakfast. Come on." He groaned loudly again but moved to the washroom. When I was halfway down the stairs I heard him shout. "Whoa, wait! What happened to your hair?"

* * *

"I'm going to clean the house today." I announced. "So if there's any porn lying around hide them so I won't find them or else I'll throw them away." I calmly drank my tea as Takeshi and Tsuyoshi almost choked on theirs.

"I don't have any." Tsuyoshi blushed and narrowed his eyes in thought. "Who taught you that word?"

"One time after class we had another student from Japan." I smirked. "He taught us a lot of more useful words than our teacher."

_Although maybe a bit too much. I learned too many kinks that people have in the world._

I rested my chin on my palm and cheekily smiled at Takeshi. "But I didn't think Tsuyoshi-san would have any."

Takeshi turned wide eyes to me. "W-wait! Why do you think I would have porn?"

"You're at the age aren't you?" I nonchalantly said. "Where you and your friends exchange that type of thing? It's okay, I won't judge you."

"No!" Takeshi yelled. "We don't do that! The only thing we exchange are baseball magazines."

I giggled. "I'm joking." I started clearing up the table. "But just letting you know I'm starting with the laundry first. So if both of you could bring the covers down to the machine while I wash the dishes, that would be great." I heard Takeshi shouting to me that he really had no porn in his room and I just laughed. He's so easy to rile up.

Putting away the last of the dishes, I went up to get my covers and started the machine. I set up the racks for the covers to dry later and grabbed a pair of gloves and cleaning spray. Cleaning the washroom was also pretty fun for me. There's something so satisfying about making the marble shine. Opening the small window near the tub to let the smell of cleaning spray out, I went into my room.

It's weird, but only the living room and my room had tatami mats. All the other rooms had a soft carpet or a wooden floor. But cleaning it was pretty simple, vacuum along the lines, spray the tatami-specific spray and wipe it down. I repeated the process for the living room. Tsuyoshi mentioned the designer of the house section wanted to fuse traditional and western elements together, but I think the designer got lazy.

Shutting the door (Tsuyoshi installed it to give me privacy), I knocked on Takeshi's door. "Hey, can I come in?"

"Just a sec!" I heard thuds and the closet door slamming shut loudly before the door opened. I raised an eyebrow and crossed my arms.

"Don't think shoving everything in the closet means your room is clean."

Takeshi laughed as usual. I walked inside and it was clean, the floor was free of clothes and bags, and the books were put back properly.

Until I opened the closet.

Clothes, bags, and other miscellaneous objects came tumbling down. "Yeah no. We're clearing this up and actually _putting _things away."

* * *

Time passed and summer arrived to Namimori. I found out that summer vacation for students in Japan started in late July instead of the usual June that I was used to in Canada. Tsuyoshi and I managed the shop while Takeshi went to a baseball camp with his schoolmates since it would be the last year they would be together before going to middle school. I keep forgetting that the new term for school in Japan was in the springtime.

I sipped my iced tea and fanned myself. Today was another Sunday to relax and I didn't want to move. "Ugh."

Summer also meant it was hot, much hotter than the summers in Canada.

Sluggishly opening the freezer, I blinked slowly when my eyes did not register an ice cream carton. _Should I venture outside and brave the heat or suffer in the heat without ice cream? _

Making my decision I grabbed my wallet and slipped on my flats. I grimaced at the flare of hot air that hit my face when I opened the door. I checked my wallet if I had enough for ice cream. Since I didn't have a bank account here in Japan, Tsuyoshi made a new account for myself and transferred my wages into that so I could keep track of how much I made. Since I was pretty stubborn of paying rent, life necessities, and food, I still had a long way to go before I could travel to Canada.

Though there was the issue if there was even a _reason _to go to Canada. If this really was the world of _Katekyo Hitman Reborn_, then I should've just dropped in without any familial ties. Evidence proved that when Google Earth showed a house that wasn't mine; also none of my family's numbers existed. There's also the problem of my forgetfulness, I can't remember any of my family member's name and my own. Everyday I realized I was forgetting a bit of my life, memories like my childhood faded away each day and getting harder and harder to recall.

_But I still have to try…_

I thumbed my bead bracelet out of habit, the only link to my family. Rounding the corner, I tripped. Catching myself, I turned back and found a strewn open bag with crumpled papers everywhere. "Okay…?"

Bending down, I tried to read the name on the papers but my kanji reading skills suck. I could only understand the character for field and luck but that was it. I gathered the papers and placed it back into the bag, I noticed a small school crest on the inside of the bag. Shrugging, I decided to bring it back and hopefully Tsuyoshi could help me find out which school it belonged to. _Summer school still happens right? I could return it if he knows, or ask families that come by TakeSushi._

The area where I found the bag was still close to the residential areas, but I could see a block ahead the street stores. Carrying the bag I kept my eyes open for anybody looking they lost something.

"Yo! Maya-chan!" Inoue Takahiro, a regular at TakeSushi, waved me over. He owned a small general store. It had my favourite, green tea ice cream. "What are you doing out here?"

"I wanted to buy some ice cream." I waved back and smiled. Inoue-san was one of my favourite customers at TakeSushi since he's pretty funny. I lifted up the schoolbag. "By the way, do you know how this belongs to?"

"Oh, that's a Namimori elementary school bag." He flipped opened the bag. "Hmm, the student is…" He suddenly stilled. Inoue roughly shoved the papers back and practically threw it back to me.

"Inoue-san?" I nearly dropped the bag because of his sudden roughness. "What's wrong?"

"Maya, you should throw that bag away." Inoue coldly stated. "It'll only bring you bad luck."

"I don't understand…" I hugged the bag to myself and unconsciously took a step back when Inoue looked like he wanted to set the bag on fire with his glare. "Who does this belong to?"

Before he could answer a sudden shout caught our ears. Stopping our conversation, Inoue and I ran towards the sound. It came from Mizuki Marina, another regular at TakeSushi who owned a western-style cuisine store.

"Mizuki-san!"

"Are you alright?"

She was facing a small alleyway where one would normally store their garbage bags. Instead of a neat row of garbage bins, garbage bags were torn open; it was a complete mess. However, my eyes were drawn to the body laying in the mess. First aid instincts kicking in, I raced over and carefully flipped the body on their back revealing a young boy. A dried trail of blood coated the side of the boy's head. I quickly put my head on his chest, I gave a small sigh of relief as a heard a strong heartbeat.

Turning my head I shouted at Mizuki and Inoue to call an ambulance. "Hey, hey!" I lightly slapped the boy's face, he gave a small groan but remained motionless. "You're going to be okay."

"_Is that-?"_

"_What is she doing?"_

"_She only came here two months ago, of course she doesn't know."_

"_She's going to get cursed."_

Confused I faced the entrance to the alleyway. More people had gathered, watching and muttering to themselves. What did they mean that I was going to get cursed? I mentally swore in my head, hating the bystander effect.

"Inoue-san-" I was cut off from speaking.

"Maya." His eyes glared down past me, at the young boy. "Leave him."

My mouth gaped. "W-what? He's injured!" I shifted to allow him to see the blood and dirty clothing. "Look! Blood!" I reverted back to my broken Japanese speaking style, distraught causing me to not think straight.

"You don't know because you're an outsider, but nothing comes from contacting _him_." Inoue spat out. "He's nothing but trouble."

Mizuki tried to reason with me in a gentle tone. "Trust us. Leave and forget about the boy. He'll cause you nothing but misfortune."

I opened and closed my mouth a few times but I shut it. I clenched my fists. Oh this was _it_. I stood up with my eyes blazing in fury, warmth growing in my chest. "Look at him!" I nearly roared. "Explain to me how can he cause misfortune when he's so beaten up?!"

"You don't understand-!" I cut Inoue off.

"I only understand that you would leave a _child _in an alley _without calling an ambulance!_" I continued on before anyone could interrupt. At least Mizuki and the other people gathered to watch managed to look embarrassed, but Inoue still looked livid, probably because someone quite younger than him was scolding and yelling at him. "He's bleeding and unconscious. Who knows how long he has been lying here. If you aren't going to call an ambulance, at least tell me where the hospital is."

I glared at Inoue until he broke contact. He turned around as if to dismissed me. "Do what you want. But I gave you a warning."

The crowd dispersed, carrying on their daily lives without a care. None of them cared about the injured boy lying in an alleyway. Of course, no one gave me directions to the hospital. I exhaled a long breath, controlling my anger. Yelling curses and throwing a tantrum won't help the boy.

"Alright, it's just you and me." I slowly moved the boy into a sitting position, checking if he gave any indication of pain. Hoping he didn't suffer any serious spine damage, I carried him in the one-person lift method. The boy was quite small and light, so I didn't see the need to do the firefighter carry hold. Making sure one of his arms was over my shoulder, I carefully gripped the school bag in one hand and slowly stood up. _Actually he's too light. Aren't boys supposed to hit their growth spurt now? Or maybe not…the only one I've got to compare is Takeshi-kun and he's not even done._

I exited the alleyway. None of the people outside, in the shops and on the streets, acknowledged my presence, they avoided my disappointed gaze. Huffing, I picked a direction that I hoped was the right one and walked in a steady pace, trying to avoid jostling the body in my arms. Times like this I wished I had my IPhone…I abused the map app a lot since I'm horrible with directions.

His fluffy brown hair tickled my neck but I didn't shift my head, the only indication that I knew the boy was still alive was the light breathing I felt near my collarbone. _Oh, I probably should've checked his eyes before I picked him up…what if he has a concussion?_

I quickened my pace. One reason to quickly get help for the boy, but another reason was to avoid the whispering of the townspeople.

"_Does she know?"_

"_I wish he just disappeared already."_

"_Thankfully his mother escaped. Such a kind soul that one, doesn't deserve a son like that."_

I tightened my hold on the boy. These people were insane and disgusting. How dare they treat a child like this. However, I let out a soft gasp though, as I heard the next hate-filled mutter.

"_The cursed-Sawada child."_

"Oh man…" I quickened my steps.

_So I guess I found Sawada Tsunayoshi? But I thought…the bullying was just name-calling? No, it's been a while since I've read the Daily Life arc…besides it didn't cover his elementary days or the other adult's attitude to him… I didn't think it was this bad…_

"Ow!" A rock bounced onto the path after rebounding off of my shoulder, I reverted back to English. "What the hell?"

"Dame-Tsuna got a Dame-girlfriend!" A nasally voice shouted from behind me. Mentally groaning I turned around. A tall boy with what looked liked his posse faced me. _Is everyone freakishly tall or am I just really short for my age? _ "Pathetic."

Deciding to screw around because I'm lost, I'm tired, and I just hate the leader's face, I responded back in English. "Hey, lay off man. Not very cool ganging up on a female and an injured kid here."

I grinned as their faces went hilariously confused. I recognized some of their faces when I did errands in the town for Tsuyoshi on Sunday and since apparently everyone in Namimori knew each other, they knew I could speak in Japanese. I rarely spoke in English unless I was swearing, which I tried to avoid doing that in front of people.

"Ya heard me." With a slight snarl, I looked straight into the leader's eyes. "Get. Lost." That backfired on me as the ringleader's face turned from confusion to anger.

_Ohh, bad move. They are slowly advancing with the intent to hurt. Aw crap. When you learn another language you always remember the bad ones or the fighting words._

I shielded Tsuna with my body as the leader raised his hand for a slap or a punch. _Please_, I thought, _be a slap 'cause it's less painful_. I closed my eyes and braced for the hit. I felt a small wind breeze past me and I heard a thud and pained groans.

_Huh?_

I opened one eye and saw the group on the ground. "Uh…did I do that?"

"Herbivore."

Snapping my head to the side my saviour, with an 'are you an idiot?' look on his face, pocketed his tonfas away.

"Hibari-kun." My shoulder's sagged with relief. Hibari and I were somewhat friends, I think. At least I considered him a friend and maybe I reached an acquaintance status with him. "Thank you."

He grunted and glanced at the bundle in my arms. Hibari snapped his gaze back to me. The days he came to TakeSushi on Sunday, I figured out how to decipher his looks since he talked more with his eyes than words.

"He's hurt and the people of the town are idiots." A huff. In Hibari-language, that meant he agreed. "Do you know the way to the hospital?"

Hibari brushed passed me and I followed, turns out I was going the right way. The hospital building came into view and probably since Hibari was with me, service was really fast. We were quickly ushered into a room and I laid Tsuna down on the bed, placing the school bag on a chair.

Noticing a towel on a tray, I dampened it with water from the sink and gently wiped Tsuna's face. Blood and dirt gradually came off.

"Hey Hibari-kun?" I quietly asked, smoothing hair away from Tsuna's face. He didn't answer but I continued. "How long as this been going on? Where is his mother?"

"When Sawada Tsunayoshi entered elementary school." Hibari answered, avoiding the last question. He sat on the windowsill, crossing his legs and avoided looking at the bed. "Sawada Tsunayoshi had the ability to predict accidents and told the other herbivores."

"Let me guess." I placed the cloth on the sink. "They didn't believe him and when the accidents really happened they thought he cursed them." Hibari's silence told me my assumption was correct. "Where is his mother?"

"Sawada Tsunayoshi is currently under my care."

I stared in slight shock at Hibari. He glared back at me, looking a bit put-off at my shocked look. I quickly put up my hands. "Hey no, not saying you can't take of him. It was just a slight surprise. You don't look like the type to take in strays."

Hibari gave out an annoyed huff. His eyes roved over the numerous injuries the younger boy had, I could feel his anger, not at the townspeople, but at himself. "He's only under my care where I can see him."

"You're doing all you can do." I consoled, my voice soft. My chest hurt. No one should be dealing with this abuse at all. "Better than a lot of people…better than his mother."

_Hibari is friends with Takeshi and is a guardian to Tsuna. Not quite the world I remember reading and watching, since Tsuna is way, way more bullied and his mother basically abandoned him. _

The door opened and a doctor finally came in. A kind-looking woman entered the room. "Hibari-kun, how many times is this now?" She walked over carrying a chart, smiling, not expecting an answer. I stood up to give her room and she turned to me. "And who is this?"

"Nice to meet you, my name is Yamamoto Amaya." I gave a small bow.

"Same to you, I am Dr. Akira Meiko." I watched as she cleaned and bandaged all the visible injuries. She shooed Hibari and I out of the room since she needed to change his clothes. Apparently Tsuna came into the hospital so much he left some spare clothes in case the ones he wore were too torn or dirty. Once we were allowed back in, Dr. Akira assured me that his only serious injury was the one on his head. The rest were just scrapes and bruises. She instructed Hibari and me that once Tsuna wakes up to press the button on the wall and left.

I stretched and sat on the stool next to the bed. Tsuna looked really small on the bed, he was naturally pale so he looked washed out on the white bed, the only vivid colour was his brown hair. "I'm going to stay here until he wakes up."

Hibari resumed his spot on the windowsill.

* * *

I woke up to someone poking me right between the shoulder blades. I shot up flailing around and whirled around. "Don't do that!"

Hibari looked unimpressed.

"Um." A timid voice spoke up. Large, brown eyes gazed back at me.

_Dang, he's like a puppy. Like those younger brothers you want to hug forever. Must resist urge to squeal and hug. Must resist urge to squeal and hug._

I somehow managed to resist the urge, I put a smile on my face and sat back down. "Hey, glad to see you're up. I'm Amaya, you can call me Maya for short. I'm the one who found you and Hibari-kun directed me to the hospital."

"O-ok." He fidgeted a bit, glancing at Hibari and me several times.

"Oh, wondering how Hibari-kun and I know each other?" I pressed the button, remembering that once Tsuna woke up I needed to contact Dr. Akira. "He visits TakeSushi every Sunday, sometimes we chat. Or more like I chat and he listens." I lifted a hand to whisper to Tsuna. "But I still think he's kinda scary."

"Herbivore." Hibari growled out. I laughed and felt a bit relieved when Tsuna gave a small smile.

Dr. Akira popped in. "Tsuna-kun, glad to see you're awake." She did the standard doctor check-up, the light in the eyes, any additional pain, things like that. I kind of dazed out, noticing the sun was slowly setting down. The room was cast in a warm orange light which made me sleepy. She finished and deemed Tsuna well enough to head back home.

"You're going to have bruises and a bit of pain, so take it easy for the next few days okay?" Dr. Akira patted Tsuna on the head as she headed out the door. "Also, try eating more. You're too thin."

_Understatement of the year. Tsuna was way too light when I carried him. Hibari seems like a rich guy, so maybe he has a chef that cooks for them? But that doesn't explain why Tsuna is so thin. Unless…right lunchtime is the perfect time to get bullied and get your lunch thrown to the ground. Might as well ask though._

"Hibari-kun. Who cooks at your place?"

"H-Hibari-san and I order take-out or get dinner from the convenience store." Tsuna replied in place of Hibari.

"Neither of you cook?" Tsuna shook his head and Hibari didn't answer me. Tsuna did mention that the maids that regularly come in to clean Hibari's place did keep their kitchen stocked with some ingredients. "Like?"

"Um," Tsuna tilted his head. "Like seasonings and desserts?"

I face-palmed. "Tsuna-kun, can I call you Tsuna? I'm going to call you Tsuna-kun. I'm going to teach you how to cook."

"A waste of time." Hibari crossed his arms. "It's faster to heat up already prepared food and eat."

"Home-made food tastes much more better." I placed my hand on my hip and pointed a finger at him. "No arguments. We're going to the market and you're coming with us."

"I-it's okay. You don't need too. You already found me and brought me here." Tsuna tried to break up our staring contest. If there was an animator nearby, they could add in the sparks or maybe laser effects. "I can't cook anyway."

"That's why I'm going to teach you." I smiled at Tsuna. "At least one dish, please? It'll ease my mind knowing you can make one dish that isn't packed with sugar and uh…" I didn't know the word for preservatives in Japanese. "Chemicals? The thing that keeps food longer on shelves."

Tsuna looked at Hibari. "If it's okay with Hibari-san…"

I clasped my hands beneath my chin and widen my eyes. "Pleeeeease Hibari-kun? I won't make a mess." I motioned Tsuna to do the same and he joined, albeit looking a bit bewildered and not pleading.

"Disgusting." He stomped towards the door. "Let's go."

I cheered. "Oh, I found your school bag Tsuna-kun." Tsuna got off the bed with wobbly steps, but he steadied himself and grabbed his bag. All three of us moseyed out of the hospital and headed to the market area.

"You guys have to direct me." I sheepishly scratched the side of my face. "I still don't know where everything is, so the only shop I know is Inoue-san's shop and I don't want to go there." I saw from the corner of my eye Tsuna flinched when I mentioned the older man's name.

"I know another market." Tsuna pointed in a direction. "It's that way."

"Lead the way, Tsuna-kun!" I bowed like one of those dancers before dancing in a ballroom. Tsuna blushed while Hibari stalked off in the direction Tsuna pointed.

Luckily, we met no other bullies. Not sure if it was because Hibari was with us, but I noticed that in this section of the town the people were more friendlier towards Tsuna. Some even came up to Tsuna and asked if he was fine.

_At least there are some people that like Tsuna. Thank goodness._

We reached a grocery store, when we entered an old voice called out. "_Gat-gat_." An elderly woman, old enough to be a grandma, slowly trudged over to Tsuna and touched his head bandaged. "You're hurt." She said in a thick-accented Japanese.

"Obaa-san." Tsuna murmured, he smiled gently at her. "I'm alright."

Reassured, she patted Tsuna on the cheek and gestured to a small stool for him to sit. She nodded at Hibari in greeting and turned her gaze at me. I bowed as a reflex, better be polite to make a good first impression. My mouth hanged opened as she spoke to me in a language I thought I'd never hear in this part of Japan. "You speak Cantonese?"

Shaking my head up and down, I blinked rapidly and said yes. _It's been so long…_ I felt nostalgic and a wave of homesickness. English was the dominant language in my household since my dad, my sister and I spoke English, but my mom, despite the many years living in Canada, never learned enough English and only spoke Cantonese to me. _Mom…_

I realized now the woman was calling Tsuna by a nickname, taking the last character of his name and repeating it as a sign of affection.

"What would you like to buy?" Her weathered face broke out into a smile. It also must have been a long time for another person to speak her mother language back to her.

"Do you have shredded pork?" I asked, pointing at Tsuna. "I'm going to teach him how to cook."

She nodded, looking at Tsuna with approving eyes. "Finally. I've been telling him to stop getting take-out."

Laughing, I got a grocery basket and filled it with the necessary ingredients: onions, shredded pork, dried breadcrumbs, and mushrooms. Checking that the Hibari house had an oven, I asked the grandma which produce were in season and got a small squash, sweet potatoes, red peppers, zucchini and ginger. We maintained a steady conversation-her fluent Cantonese with my awkward accented one. Sometimes Japanese would be included to not exclude the other two, Tsuna and Hibari joined in, but mostly watched us when we switched back to Cantonese.

I paid for the food since I was the only one with a wallet, but I didn't mind. I was happy enough to find someone that spoke my mom's mother language. Before we left she gave us three ramune drinks for free. She refused our attempts to give it back. She cupped my face, "Come back again?"

I smiled. "I will, _poh poh_."

She beamed back at me, hugged Tsuna and I and waved us goodbye. We exited the store and headed to Hibari's place. With one arm, I side-hugged Tsuna who squeaked. "Thanks, Tsuna-kun."

"For what?"

"It's been a while since I've spoken Cantonese. It reminds me of home," I said wistfully. "I've only been here for about…two months now? I'm more comfortable speaking English, but Cantonese is still great to hear."

"You don't speak Mandarin?" Hibari asked.

"Nope. Well, just the small things like 'hello', or 'I don't understand Mandarin'. Even though a lot of people tell me it's easier than Cantonese, the pitches sound all the same to me." Looking at Tsuna's confused expression, I explained. "In Mandarin there are only four pitches." I tried to imitate the tones, level, rising, dipping, and the low then higher tones. "With Cantonese, there are six and maybe eight tones depending on which character."

"Oh…" Tsuna scrunched his eyebrows together. "Sounds hard."

* * *

It started to get dark when we reached Hibari's place.

"We're here." Hibari opened the gate to a very traditional Japanese house. I stood still admiring the view. Dang, Hibari lived in a house I wouldn't mind living in forever. It was also quite large, it kind of reminded me the house that Yankumi lived in, remembering the times I watched Gokusen in my younger days.

"Maya-san?" Tsuna called me. I rushed forward and slipped off my flats. Oh, I didn't bring socks. My Japanese professor said it's the rudest thing to not wear socks since I'll be dirtying their floor and their slippers. If I didn't bring them, I wouldn't be invited over again.

"Sorry Hibari-kun." I stood at the genkan, not stepping up yet. "I don't have any socks on me"

"Oh!" Tsuna opened a cabinet near the genkan and took out a pair of slippers. "Here."

"Sorry." Slowly putting on the slippers, I stepped up.

"It's okay." Tsuna acted like he didn't mind, but I could see the judgmental glare Hibari threw at me. I tried my best at an apologetic look.

_I guess it depends on the person…but I'll try to make sure to bring socks each time I go out when I wear flats. Chill Hibari, I wasn't planning on visiting your house today, how could I have known that I would go to your house?_

Hibari led us to the kitchen and I placed the grocery bags on the island counter. The kitchen was large with an oven, a microwave, a refrigerator and sinks. I loved it because it was so neat. Ladles and large utensils hanged above the sink and a random cactus was placed on the windowsill above the sink. Probably because the two boys don't use it a lot and the maids came to clean once in a while made it looked so neat.

"Shall we get started?" I grabbed a few bobby pins I had in my wallet to pin my bangs back. I put the ramune in the fridge to chill before we drank it. "The menu tonight is hamburger steak and baked vegetables. Wash your hands really well and we'll get started on preparing the vegetables since it'll take the longest."

Tsuna and I washed our hands. Hibari didn't move from his spot but sat down and leaned his hand on the palm of his hand. "You're just going to watch us, huh."

I gave Tsuna the blue apron while I took the red one that I found in a nearby cabinet. Rummaging through the drawers, I got out seasonings, oil, knives, bowls and a cutting board. We peeled the sweet potato, zucchini, and ginger. I microwaved the squash to make it easer to peel and cut and preheated the oven. I then instructed Tsuna how to properly cut vegetables safely.

"Curl your fingers like this." I curled my fingers like a cat. "This way you won't cut your fingers."

"Okay." With a concentrated face Tsuna began to cut the vegetables into bite-sized pieces.

"You sure you don't want to join in Hibari-kun?"

"No."

"You sure?"

"Yes."

"Really?"

"_Yes_."

Stopping there since Hibari hissed out his last word I tossed all the cut vegetables, but not the ginger, in the bowl. "I learnt this dish from my sister. Put enough oil to coat the vegetables and sprinkle on the salt and pepper. It's best to use seasonal vegetables so it's more flavourful. Set the oven to around 200 degrees Celsius and pop it in for around 40 minutes. But make sure to check on it every 10 minutes to turn the vegetables over."

Tsuna nodded. I ruffled his hair, god he was so cute. He wasn't bad at cooking just needed some guidance. I bet being around other students and judgmental teachers made it hard to ask for help.

"Maya-san?" I hummed in response as I cut the onion. I grabbed another bowl to put the meat into the bowl and cracked an egg over it. Tsuna cut the other half of the onion and was now grating a bit of ginger. "Don't you need to tell your parents where you are?"

"Aw crap."

"I already told Yamamoto Tsuyoshi you are staying for dinner."

I let out a sigh. "Thanks."

"Humph."

"You're Yamamoto-kun's sister?" Tsuna asked.

"Nope. His cousin. Really distant cousin." I put out an approximate amount of breadcrumbs in the mixture. "Now we got to fry the onions and put it with the meat."

While Tsuna caramelized the onions I checked on the baking vegetables. A sweet scent filled the kitchen, this is why I liked cooking and baking. The smells were a bonus to in the process. I teased Hibari. "Don't think microwaving food will get you smells like this."

The onions done, Tsuna dumped it with the meat and waited a few seconds before grabbing a wooden spoon and mixing. Once it was almost mixed completely I poured a bit of oil on my hands and divided the mixture into four parts. "This may be a bit gross but pour some oil on your hands so the meat doesn't stick to it. Then lightly throw the meat back and forth like so."

I threw the patty several times until it became an oval shape and placed my patty on a plate, giving Tsuna an encouraging smile. He clumsily shaped a patty together. He shaped the other two parts while I heated the pan. Once the pan was hot enough, I placed the patties on the pan, browning all the sides evenly. I poured water until it reached the sides of the patty and covered the pot.

"Once the water is almost gone, poke the patty. If it's clear it's done, but if it's a bit red then pour a bit more water and cook it for a few more minutes."

Tsuna and I cut the mushrooms. Hibari showed me where the dashi powder and flour was. Not sure why the maids decided to stock flour in the house, but I was glad since I forgot to buy some at the store. Remembering that I found some jello-like cubes in the fridge, along with some syrup that came with it, I brought that out as well as some fruits from the fridge. I got three bowls out and Tsuna and I peeled oranges and sliced strawberries.

I scooped some of the cubes into the bowls and drizzled the gooey syrup, it was probably made from brown sugar and some type of thick syrup. Tsuna lastly put the oranges and strawberry slices on. Checking the freezer, I grinned at the carton of green tea ice cream. "Score!" I placed the bowls into the fridge to chill since I would serve the ice cream last.

I poked the patty and the juice ran clear. Tsuna raised the patties out onto the plate and I quickly threw in the mushrooms. "Stir until they shrink. Once they get smaller, stir in the dashi stock and add a little bit more water. Then make sure to stir in the flour really well. Once it thickens, ladle it over the hamburger."

I checked on the vegetables and skewered it. I was able to pierce through it really easily so I declared it done baking. Grabbing mittens, I placed the vegetables into a larger, nicer looking bowl. Tsuna just finished ladling the mushroom gravy over the hamburgers too, dinner was finished!

We set the table and I beamed. "Dinner's ready!"

"Took you long enough." Hibari complained, but he did look pleased at the dinner in front of him. He brought out the chilled ramune onto the table.

"Yeah yeah." Grabbing our chopsticks (Hibari didn't own any western utensils), Tsuna, Hibari and I chimed together 'itadakimasu'.

"Delicious!" I hummed out. I praised the other chef. "You're not a bad cook Tsuna-kun."

"It was you who really cooked everything though."

"Nah. I just directed you how to make it. If you put enough love into it it'll taste great."

"Where did you learn how to cook?"

"I watched a lot of videos when I was bored like cooking shows, watching my mom and experimenting with my sister."

Tsuna and I chatted while we ate. Hibari grunting once in a while to join in the conversation, it was comfortable dinner atmosphere. I told Tsuna I was originally from Canada and came to help out my (fake) uncle Tsuyoshi with his shop. We asked each other our favourite colours, hobbies, what types of anime or manga we liked, I was glad that Tsuna looked happy, talking with me. Hibari can sometimes be too intimidating to talk with.

Finished with the main meal, I brought out bowls while Tsuna scooped out the ice cream. We silently ate this time, enjoying the sweet jello, fruits, and green tea ice cream. Hibari surprised us when he announced he would wash dishes. Tsuna and I glanced at each other and agreed that we would help Hibari with the dishes.

Turns out Hibari was very particular with his dishes and he knew what he was doing in his own preferred way, it took a much longer time than what was normal to wash everything, it's like he wanted all the dishes to sparkle. Tsuna and I dried the dishes and placed everything back to their proper places. I hummed as I worked, the squeaky dishes, clanking of plates, and my humming filled the kitchen.

I checked the window when we finished, it was pitch black besides the street lights. "Is your house far away from TakeSushi, Hibari-kun?"

"Ehh?" Tsuna looked concerned. "It's dangerous going by yourself."

I carelessly waved a hand. "It'll be fine. It's not that dark and the street lights are on."

"You could stay here for the night."

"Uh. Wouldn't that be weird?"

"Yamamoto Tsuyoshi gave his permission." Hibari cut in.

"Whoa wait wait wait." I waved my hands in front of me, gawking at Hibari in confusion. "When did that happen?"

"When you were making dinner."

"Merp."

"We have yukatas in the house for you to change into." Tsuna added in, hoping it would ease my worries.

"That's wonderful. But…"

"Stay herbivore, Yamamoto Tsuyoshi insisted." He brushed past me so only I could hear, heading to the living room. "Those herbivores are waiting at TakeSushi, wanting to talk to you."

_Oh. I need to apologize to Tsuyoshi-san later. I don't really feel the urge to go back now…I'd probably end up making a commotion for Tsuyoshi-san from yelling at those people. But why does the word 'cradle robber' come into mind...ah right, because Tsuna's around twelve and who knows how old Hibari is...but they are still under twenty. But I don't want to get yelled at after a relaxing evening, and I am tired...ugh._

"You don't find it weird that I'm twenty and you want me to sleep over?"

"Hiee! You're twenty!?"

"Age does not matter."

_They are the chillest people ever, I swear. _I sighed, shaking my head slightly. "Alright… you guys win. Cheers to an impromptu sleep over."

* * *

AN: A long chapter, I didn't know where to end so I stopped here. Thank you for the follows and favs!


	3. Load 3: Prelude to Chaos

_Load III: Prelude to Chaos  
-Skyefinal_

* * *

_A dream?_

No matter how hard I tried my eyes wouldn't open but the sensation of floating was clear to me. Not only my eyes, I couldn't move my entire body, it just suspended in mid-air. Panicking should be my first reaction but hovering in air actually felt nice, moving required too much effort.

_This one welcomes you. _

_Who…?_

This voice sounded familiar to me, especially the way he was speaking. It reminded me of the way samurais would speak back in the olden days. Where have I heard this voice before?

_My comrades and I will watch over what you'll do from here on out._

_Wait! _Weakly thrashing against invisible restraints, I pleaded to the voice. _What am I suppose to do?_

_Do not fret, you're doing exactly what you need to do._

With that vague answer I woke up.

* * *

Summer evenings in Namimori were still pretty warm so I sat on the wooden perch facing Hibari's garden. It was a traditional garden with the koi pond and a small waterfall with the bamboo stick thing that made a rhythmic _donk_ sound when it filled up with water and hit a rock when it got heavy. It reminded me of the Japanese garden my university had that was a bit of a walk from the main campus.

A perfect place to collect my thoughts and to analyze my dream.

_So a group of people dumped me into this world, I do have a purpose and I'm doing exactly what I should be doing. At least they didn't just dump me here for fun…what am I suppose to do though? I'm helping Tsuyoshi-san at TakeSushi, being friends with Takeshi-kun, Hibari-kun and now Tsuna-kun._

I leaned back to rest on my hands. _My purpose is to make friends? Tsuna-kun I can understand since until Reborn came to train him he didn't make any friends. No one paid him any attention or either gave him attention by a punch in the face. Half of the town wants him gone because they think he causes the accidents. The other half either doesn't believe Tsuna-kun and the accidents are related and treat him like any other boy but they can't stop all the hate on Tsuna otherwise they might get ostracized as well. _

_Wait, speaking of Reborn…with Tsuna-kun predicting all the accidents, could this mean his hyper intuition has awakened? I thought his grandpa sealed it when he visited Tsuna-kun in his younger days. _I rubbed my head in frustration. _Ugh, let's end that thought there, I don't know much about the hyper intuition. _

To me, the hyper intuition was a really good sixth sense.

_With Takeshi-kun…Tsuyoshi-san asked me to be his friend. Takeshi-kun's friendly with everyone, but how many of his friends now are really his friends? Because he broke his arm practicing baseball he wanted to jump from the school rooftop. All of his friends watched him, concerned but none came up except for Tsuna-kun. I better make sure to watch over him and tell Takeshi-kun that baseball is a team sport, not all the responsibility lies on him._

_Hibari-kun's story was never really told in the manga or the anime I think. All we know is that he and Fong are related somehow, in the fandom Fong is believed to be his uncle, but who knows? He loves Namimori, hates crowding, and calls everyone food hierarchy names. And…in a house this large, if he didn't bring Tsuna here he would live in this house all alone. _

_And the parents…Tsuna-kun's mom is somewhere, dad is a mafia guy; Takeshi-kun's mother is also somewhere and I don't even know if Hibari-kun's parents are alive or also somewhere in the world._

"Everyone's lonely in their own ways, huh." Still not feeling sleepy, I stared at the moon and the assortment of stars. Hibari's house was a bit elevated since it was on a hill so I could see some twinkling lights. It was also very quiet, although it was still in the residential area, the house was isolated. Large trees shielded the house from prying eyes and large metal fences protected Hibari's property, which from what I saw from the entrance looked like the size of an entire block.

Swinging my legs back and I debated whether or not to start singing, sitting here in the garden made me wanted to. Singing apparently could help you fall asleep since it relaxes you somehow, tumblr is a wonderful place to find facts like that.

Wracking my brain for a song that I could sing quietly, I decided on a song that I really liked from one of my favourite artists, it also helped that her song was a low-pitch song.

"_Hiraita bakari no hana ga chiru no wo 'kotoshi mo hayai ne' to, zannen sou ni miteita anata wa totemo kirei datta,_" I sang quietly. Utada Hikaru was probably the first Japanese artist I discovered and every time I heard her song play anywhere I would silently squeal. When she released this song during her hiatus I instantly fell in love with it, the slow build up from piano and strings to drums and guitars was perfection in my ears. Love, sentiment, longing and hope, at least to me this song represents those four feelings when I listen to it.

Letting the last note ring in the night air, I lazily yawned. Moving to head back to my bed but stopped when I noticed spikey brown hair hiding around the corner. "Tsuna-kun?"

"Hiee!"

"It's okay, you can't sleep either?" Tsuna sheepishly came out of the corner and sat down next to me.

"That was a pretty song."

"Thanks. Sorry for waking you up."

Tsuna shook his head. "I was already awake. When I can't sleep I come down here, it's calming."

"I agree."

"I never thanked you did I? For finding me today." Tsuna fidgeted with his hands, his bangs covering his eyes. "Thank you."

Ruffling his head, I tilted my head in confusion when Tsuna flinched and backed away from contact. When Tsuna and I made dinner and washed dishes, he would casually initiate contact with Hibari and I. Small touches, like brushing arms and fingertips touching when passing dishes, as if reassuring we are solid presences and not fake. I didn't mind it much since Tsuna did the same with Hibari and I'm pretty affectionate around friends as well. I was known to be the 'hugger' in my group of friends back home.

"Tsuna-kun?"

"You shouldn't talk to me anymore." I dropped my hand and he went on speaking, not letting me say anything. He continued to wring his hands and his voice wavered. "I only cause trouble. You're friends with Inoue-san right? I heard what Hibari-san said to you, it's my fault that you're fighting with him."

"I probably would have fought with him anyways if I knew he was like this."

"You can't!" Tsuna protested, frantic now, finally showing his eyes. He blinked rapidly to stop his tears from falling. "Everyone gets hurt around me. Because of me, Inoue-san's daughter got hurt and if you keep talking to me everyone will bully _you_ instead that's what happens to anyone. A-and you wouldn't want to be my friend! I'm not good at anything, I'm _Dame-Tsuna_ and that's why mom-!"

I cut him off, enveloping him in a hug and he finally released his tears, muffling his sobs into my shoulder, soaking the yukata. Rocking gently back and forth I hummed a random song to calm him down. When his sobs turned into sniffles I spoke.

"I don't think you're 'dame' at all. You're just Tsuna. Remember how we made dinner? With a little bit of help you made dinner all by yourself." I rested my chin on the side of his head. "No one deserves to be treated this way, Tsuna-kun. Don't think you do, no one should beaten up and left in an alley."

Unconsciously tightening my hold on Tsuna, I grimaced. I never want to see anyone, especially Tsuna, injured and bleeding and abandoned by people who could've done _something_.

"You're so kind, warning everyone of danger. It's not their fault they didn't listen. It's not your fault." I repeated it twice when I felt Tsuna shake his head in denial.

"How about Hibari-kun? Grandma from the store? They've not been hurt since you've known them right?" Tsuna slowly nodded. Good, I was making some progress. "Once you start believing what everyone says, you start becoming what they say." I cupped his face so he could see how sincere I was, I wanted to drive this point home in Tsuna's head. "Only you can decide who you want to be and how. Not anyone else"

Tsuna nodded, he gently returned my hug as thanks. He didn't release his hold though, and we sat there admiring the stars until I saw him sleepily blink. "Come on, let's get you to bed."

"Can you sing that song one more time?" He used the puppy eyes this time on me. He even clasped his hands and lowered his head so I would be under the full stare of his huge, pleading eyes.

_Resist urge to squeal and hug. Resist urge to squeal and hug. Resist…screw resisting!_

"You're so cute." I glomped Tsuna and squeezed him like he was a stuff animal.

We sat side by side as I sang once more. Trying my best to sing soothingly, I took care in hitting the right pitch. "_Donna ni kowaku tatte me wo sorasanai yo, subete no owai ni ai ga aru nara_…" Feeling a bit sentimental, I added in the chorus one more time. It fit somehow, with this situation. "_Everybody finds love…in the end_."

* * *

Hibari escorted me back to TakeSushi the next morning. Since Tsuna still had his summer school, he couldn't join us all the way. He insisted that Hibari go with me since I'm bad with directions. As thanks (I really did think I would get lost), I packed his bento box with the leftover hamburger steak and roasted vegetables, I told Hibari I owed him lunch so stop pouting, I told you home-made food tasted much better than microwaved food and yes I will make a hamburger steak so stop hovering over me!

After convincing Hibari and me that he would able to get to school without get attacked, and his current injuries aren't hurting him and he could still go to school, I waved him goodbye when we reached the intersection where we would separate. Watching him round the corner, trying to not act like an overprotective mom I turned to Hibari. "Shall we?"

It was quite early in the morning, the time where people slowly emerge from their houses and get ready for school or work. So peaceful, I thought. Familiar buildings came into site and I thanked Hibari. "I know how to get back from here. Come by lunch time and I'll have your lunch ready!"

Hibari gave a brisk nod but continued in the direction to TakeSushi. Surprised, I followed him and hid my grin behind my hand. Despite how scary Hibari could be, he's a gentleman. _What's that term? A tsundere?_

"Oh, Tsuyoshi-san isn't awake?" Noticing the sign was still flipped to the 'closed' side, I opened the door. "Tsuyoshi-san, I'm back."

I froze, Inoue and Mizuki were sitting down on the counter facing Tsuyoshi. "Ah…"

Hibari lightly pushed me inside and slid the door shut. Tsuyoshi greeted Hibari and me with a smile, waving me over to stand next to him behind the counter. Hibari choose to lean against the wall that was to my right, a sign of assurance and subtly showing where he stands in the upcoming argument.

Hiding my clenched fists behind my back, I greeted the two elderly people without a smile, forcing my voice to be level. "Inoue-san, Mizuki-san."

"Where were you last night?"

I shrugged. "Here and there."

"Were you with _it_?" Inoue spat out. I dug my fingers into my palm, from the corner of eyes I saw Hibari twitch.

_Don't yell, play it cool and it's your win. If they're the ones getting angry we can get them to leave the store since they'll be causing a disturbance. They already are…making Tsuyoshi-san not opening on time._

I feigned ignorance. An evil side of me enjoyed seeing Inoue turning red in the face. Mizuki however, didn't change expression. If I had to guess, she looked disappointed. "I don't know what you mean."

"You know what I'm talking about!" Inoue-san almost yelled, he took a deep breath to calm himself. "Maya-chan, I'm only worried about you. My daughter, she got hurt and you'll get hurt as well."

"How?" I clarified when Inoue looked confused. "How did your daughter get hurt?"

"My daughter loves to hike. Before she left with her group of friends, _it_-" Under the combined glares of Hibari and I, he reluctantly used the correct noun to reference Tsuna. "He was the only one to point at my daughter and said to her 'you shouldn't climb today'."

Inoue then slumped his shoulders. "She fell from a cliff and suffered a concussion and broke her leg. After that, any other time someone was going to get in an accident, he told them and it happened. He pointed it out a day before and he was right."

"Do you see now?" Mizuki finally spoke, adding her two cents in. Two yen? Whatever, I didn't know why she was even here anyways. "Eventually you'll get hurt, he'll curse you as well."

"I don't know what the other townspeople are thinking." Inoue muttered. "Still treating that as any other child."

"Because he is." My voice cold, hands shaking in fury. "Has it ever occurred to you, that Tsuna-kun was _warning _all of you? That maybe he has a really good instinct?"

They both looked startled, Inoue opened his mouth to argue but I cut him off. "He is the kindest kid I've ever met. So kind that he'll believe the _garbage _that came out of your mouth. Don't interrupt. You're pushing all your anger on an innocent kid, have you ever thought the possibility that your daughter might've been a bit reckless when hiking?"

"Atsuko wouldn't-"

"Where you there when she fell?"

"No but-"

"Then you don't know for sure." I sharply said. "I wonder how many people have made mistakes and blamed it on Tsuna-kun. The other townspeople were probably _saved_ by Tsuna-kun. You're too blind by anger to see if was trying to _save _you and not curse you."

"Tsuyoshi." Inoue turned to his last resort. "She's delusional, set your niece straight."

"Oh I'm not delusional." I gave the two a bright grin, familiar warmth grew in my chest, it gave me courage to say the next sentence. "I understand quite well that you two are the worst."

"How dare you!" Inoue slammed his hands on the counter, standing up. I somehow managed to hide my flinch and not take a step back. Due to my short height, Inoue towered over me. _Damn that's a bit intimidating. _I thought, but I wasn't alone. Hibari was suddenly beside me, glaring, a flash of silver stopped Inoue from advancing.

"If you're afraid of Tsuna-kun cursing you, I don't see how ignoring and allow beatings prevent that." I crossed my arms.

"She's right." Whipping my head to the left, I stared at Tsuyoshi. His normally kind eyes were cold and unrelenting. "Maya's made herself clear, Takahiro."

"So that's what you've decided Tsuyoshi." Inoue clenched his fists.

"You herbivores will leave Sawada Tsunayoshi, Yamamoto Tsuyoshi and Yamamoto Amaya alone." Hibari stated, leaving no time to argue. "This shop is not to be touched."

"Don't tell me what to do _boy_." Inoue hissed. Did I mention how angry older Asian people get when people younger than them talk back? Yeah, Inoue was _pissed_.

"Do not forget who runs this town, herbivore."

Sputtering, Inoue stormed out. Mizuki followed him, glancing uncertainly at me. Maybe some of my words struck a cord with her way of thinking. Hopefully. Once the door slammed shut I relaxed.

"Sorry for troubling you Tsuyoshi-san." I said, the beginning of the shivers started. I bit my lip, gripping my arm to try to stop the tremors. I can bluff but once the fight is over I'm weak, shivering like a kicked puppy.

"It's alright." Tsuyoshi warmly said, he noticed my distress. "Maya-chan, are you okay?"

"I'm fine." I assured, shakily sitting down. "I'm not good at confrontations like that."

I told Tsuyoshi what happened yesterday, pouring out all my frustration on the townspeople who would leave an injured boy alone. The bullying, the attacks, everything and my confusion, I babbled on. "I just don't understand, Tsuyoshi-san."

"Even though I've known Takahiro for a long time, I didn't think he would be like this."

The three of us drank green tea, mulling over the conversation that happened a few minutes ago. "Tsuyoshi-san…did they," I paused, not sure how to phrase the question. "Did they bully Tsuna-kun's mom as well?"

Tsuyoshi sighed heavily, his eyes downcast. "Nana-san couldn't handle the rumours surrounding her son. With the other townspeople kept harassing her to do something, she collapsed. The stress got to her. When Iemitsu, Tsunayoshi-kun's father, came to visit, she went with him."

"_Everyone gets hurt around me. Because of me Inoue-san's daughter got hurt and if you keep talking to me everyone will bully you instead that's what happens to anyone. A-and you wouldn't want to be my friend! I'm not good at anything, I'm Dame-Tsuna and that's why mom-!"_

My heart clenched. "How, how old was he? When they left?"

"Seven years old." Hibari answered.

Tsuyoshi nodded, "They asked Hibari-kun if he could be Tsunayoshi-kun's guardian since no one else in the town wanted to."

"So they basically just dumped their child in another child's house and left him?" I dropped my head in my hands, a headache forming after digesting all that information. I ignored the glare Hibari sent me, technically he still was a kid back then, no matter how well he could take care of himself.

_At least Tsuna had his mom and loved him in her weird way in the anime. She didn't abandon him…_

"Now now, don't get too sad Maya-chan." Tsuyoshi ruffled my hair, causing me to squawk. "Tsunayoshi-kun has you and Hibari-kun now as friends."

_Five years of loneliness and injuries though..._

He stood up, clearing the cups away. "Now, Takeshi is coming back today and I'll need your help to prepare a special dinner, we've also got a special guest tonight." Hibari looked disgruntled for some reason.

Tsuyoshi glanced at the clock, it was nearing noon. "I don't think I'll open the shop today, I feel like taking a break. "

I mentioned that I owed Hibari a hamburger steak lunch and Tsuyoshi grinned. "Then join us for lunch Hibari-kun, I think I have everything to make it. Let me check."

Tsuyoshi trotted off the kitchen, I moved to follow him but Hibari blocked my way. He gazed at me, an analyzing look on his face.

"You did not mention his father at all. Only his mother."

Hibari's statement caused me to freeze for the second time, I struggled against the urge to widen my eyes and twitch. Not good to show my tells now.

"When I was carrying Tsuna-kun before you found me, the townspeople only muttered about his mother." I quickly replied, making sure to keep eye contact. "I thought his father passed away since no one talked about him."

We then had a staring contest. Unlike Hibari, who had an awesome poker face, I could feel myself sweating bullets, palms clammy. When I thought I couldn't handle it anymore Hibari turned around, grunting and headed to the kitchen.

My shoulder slumped in relief.

_What was that about?_

* * *

Lunch with Hibari, Tsuyoshi-san and I was just a tad bit awkward. Hibari liked to eat lunch in peace, but Tsuyoshi keep the conversation going, especially when Tsuyoshi brought the sake out. He became loud and boisterous, laughing at his own jokes I didn't mind, but Hibari did.

I didn't really like to drink, but I never tried sake before so I had one cup. This one reminded me of white wine, a bit fruity. I remembered at my friend's birthday party she bought me a tequila shot, not the best kind of drink to buy something who is new to drinking. It tasted horrible, like I was drinking rubbing alcohol. Luckily another friend bought me something fruity, some pineapple drink to wash the taste away.

Tsuyoshi started preparing for dinner for Takeshi and the special guest and wanted me to make dessert. There would be sushi and some stir-fry, but Tsuyoshi didn't know much dessert recipes besides green tea ice cream. Leaning back on the chair, I tried recalling any easy recipes.

"How about pudding? I remember how to make panna cotta." Tsuyoshi agreed and dubbed it 'white purin', right, he didn't like bringing foreign dishes into his house, wasn't he the one to call carbonara spaghetti 'white yakisoba'?

Hibari was a silent presence beside me as I left for grandma's shop, the townspeople ignored us but that was fine with me. As long as they didn't do anything to Tsuna and Tsuyoshi's shop I was satisfied. We parted ways once I reached the store, Hibari stalked off in the direction of what I assumed was the elementary school. I couldn't help but give Hibari a grin, really he's such a tsundere.

"You know, you should try talking to Tsuna-kun once in a while." I prodded him with an elbow. "Anything is fine, I'm sure he'll be really happy." He grunted and pushed me away. I snickered. "I'll save you and Tsuna-kun a share of the dessert." He gave a curt nod and went off.

Purchasing the ingredients was simple as I only needed to get cream, gelatin, and oranges, conversing with grandma shortly before leaving. I found out she had a son around my age and like any other typical grandma she wanted to introduce me to her son, slyly mentioning that he should settle down with a young woman like me. Spluttering, I uttered something about I wasn't looking for a relationship and I don't think he would want me as a wife. Chuckling, she waved me goodbye.

I hid my face in the paper bag and willed my blush to disappear. She definitely reminded me of all my Asian 'aunties' and my grandma. How many times have they asked me about my love life and when will I get a boyfriend? At least unlike my real grandma she didn't order me to be more feminine, like cleaning the house more often and learning how to cook, sew, and dress more like a woman. Actually get skirts and dresses instead of jeans.

_Ah wait, I am cleaning more now…and cooking more. But my wardrobe is still the same. Screw dresses, damn flimsy piece of overpriced fabric… _

Stomping broke me out of my thought and before I could move to give whoever some space (thinking it was a jogger) water exploded on me.

"The hell?!"

Snickering reached my ears and I slicked my hair out of my face and peered up. Three young boys stood in front of me, high-fiving each other, one of them carrying a bucket.

"Yo! Dame-Tsuna's girlfriend."

Oh, these guys again, the ones who attacked me when I was carrying Tsuna to the hospital. I continued walking, intent on ignoring them, luckily the paper bag wasn't soaked so it wouldn't break. They obviously didn't appreciate my silence.

"Hey! We're speaking to you!" The tallest screamed at me.

_Yes, I am going to respond to someone that threw water at me. I think this would've been more effective in the winter, the water feels nice in the summer time. It's kinda hot enough that I could dry off outside, but in the winter I could freeze. _

A hand grabbed my shoulder and shoved me onto a wall. I winced and hugged the bag closer to my chest. I glared at the boy.

"Scared?" The boy taunted. What was his name? Kato? Kurosawa? Something that started with a 'K'.

"Not really." I raised an eyebrow. "Hard to be scared when you're shorter than me."

Shifting my bag to the other hand, I raised my free hand, formed a fist and slammed it on the inside of the boy's elbow, his grip on my shoulder fell and I pushed him away. His friends caught him and I booked it. Shouts and footsteps followed after me, _this is ridiculous_ I thought, _I'm scared of elementary school boys. Tall elementary school boys_. But, the first time I met them, they would have punched me, so they didn't hold back on girls.

I lost my balance as something hard and plastic hit my head, I grabbed the wall to stop my fall. "Ow!"

Turning around, they surrounded me once more. The boy I hit looked livid, I crouched a little deliberately making myself look smaller. My logic, from what I remembered from self-defense, was that if I made myself small they would likely attack me from the top. Hoping my reflexes were good, I would be able to dodge and find an opening to hit below the waist.

"You'll pay for that." The boy sneered and took a step. I braced myself but it turns out I didn't have to.

A white blur attached itself onto the boy's face. He screamed and tried to shake it off and it flung the white mass onto the ground. The white blur revealed to be a monkey, the size of a small kitten. It hissed at the boys and a small weight settled on my head.

"It isn't nice to attack ladies." A childish voice rang out. Then, to my confusion and a little disgust, a brown fog emerged and wrapped around the three boys. They stiffened and started twitching, faces terrified.

"I can't move the way I want to!"

It was comical to see the boys move as if they were trying really hard to dance cool but ended up falling to the ground. But it was also disconcerting because the children were obviously in fear and their moves sometimes looked a bit painful.

"Uh…"

"Shall we continue our way?" The person on my head shifted down to my shoulder and I finally got a view of my savior. A small baby was on my shoulder. A baby.

_I think my mind just exploded._

The baby was wearing a red Chinese-styled robe and had a small braid on the back of his head. He smiled at me gently. "My name is Fong. Nice to meet you."

_Yup exploded._

"N-nice to meet you." _Why am I meeting an Arcobaleno now? Reborn is the first one that should be coming first. Actually, shouldn't Tsuna be meeting them first? Not me?_

"Do you happen to know where TakeSushi is? It has been a while since I've last visited Namimori."

_He's the special guest? This is so weird, the manga didn't say anything about Tsuyoshi and Fong being friends! There were speculations that Tsuyoshi used to be an assassin, since he knew the Shigure-whatever sword-style. _

"I'm actually heading there."

"Perfect, Lichi." Fong called for his partner. The monkey jumped up to land on Fong's head. "I hope you don't mind me riding on your shoulder."

"It's okay."

I continued to the trek back to the shop, glancing a bit doubtfully at the twitching boys still trying to figure out their body movements. Deciding that they should be okay, I left them.

"Are you a relative of Tsuyoshi?"

"His niece, I'm here to help him out with the shop and improve my Japanese."

"I see, he never mentioned a niece to me before."

"I'm a distant niece." Trying to push for more information, I asked, "How do you know Tsuyoshi-san?"

"We're old friends."

I hummed in response.

"Just checking, whatever you did will wear off right?"

"Yes, just a mild neurotic technique."

"Okay…"

When we reached TakeSushi, Tsuyoshi looked surprised at Fong and at my wet state. "Fong! Welcome I wasn't expecting you to come so fast!" He gestured to a seat for Fong and paced a hand on my shoulder, concerned. "Maya-chan, what happened to you?"

"Nothing happened, someone with a hose accidentally hit me with water. That's how Fong-san and I met." Not wanting to make him worried, I made a small, white lie. I hoped Fong wouldn't say anything, I sent him a pleading look to not tell Tsuyoshi what happened as I went upstairs. "I'm going to take a quick shower and I'll get started on the dessert."

Tsuyoshi looked unconvinced, but didn't press me. "Okay. If you say so."

Quickly showering and changed into a new set of clothing, I headed back downstairs. As I made desert Tsuyoshi explained me how he and Fong met. Apparently Fong was a regular at a restaurant that Tsuyoshi was apprenticing at and they became good friends after that. I refrained from asking if Fong was still a baby back then as well.

Heating up the cream and sugar in a pot I peeled open the gelatin package. Measuring out the correct water to gelatin ratio, I let it soak and waited until the cream was about to boil. Turning off the heat I grated the orange zest into the cream mixture and covered the pot, letting the cream be infused with the orange zest.

The three of us shared stories until Takeshi's return, old stories like Tsuyoshi accidentally spilling tea over Lichi and Lichi wouldn't allow Tsuyoshi to pet him until he gave him a lot of his favourite treats. Even stories of when they got too drunk and got into fist-fights. I doubled over in laughter as Fong described how Tsuyoshi mistook a cardboard cut-out as an opponent and spent twenty minutes trying to intimidate it with sloppy moves that were suppose to be kung fu.

After thirty minutes passed I re-heated the cream mixture and added the gelatin, stirring to dissolve it. Straining the liquid mixture, I poured it into eight molds and put them in the fridge. It should be ready the time we finished dinner.

We moved to the living room and waited for Takeshi. I played with Lichi while Tsuyoshi and Fong continued their conversation, reminiscing and catching up what the other has done through the years.

"What brings you to Namimori, Fong?"

"I'm actually trying to find my _teishi_."

"Oh! How is she?"

"Ipin is doing well."

I stilled before resuming petting Lichi. My head hurt with all the events happening, Ipin might be in Japan, Fong was here, what else could happen I thought?

"I'm back!" Takeshi's voice brought us out to the front.

"Welcome back, boy." The three of us went out to the front to welcome Takeshi back home.

"Oh, hello." Takeshi smiled at Fong and Lichi, he gently scratched Lichi's head.

"Remember my old friend I mentioned, Takeshi? This is Fong and Lichi."

It amazed me how Takeshi wasn't fazed that his father's old friend was a two-year old baby.

Dinner went by smoothly, Takeshi telling his adventures at the summer camp, excited about joining the baseball team in middle school, as it would be more serious and intense. The 'adults' smiled at his enthusiasm.

"Did you join any teams, Maya?"

"Badminton only."

"You should try baseball!" I chuckled, saying maybe I would one day. There was a knock on the front door and I went up, I was closest to the door. I opened it and Hibari and Tsuna were there.

"Hey!" I welcomed them in. "Just in time for dessert!"

"O-oh, we don't want to disturb you." Tsuna said nervously. "Hibari-san just you had something to give to me."

"Both of you actually." Tsuna still looked nervous stepping in but Hibari practically came in like he owned the place. Tsuyoshi came out.

"Oh Hibari-kun, trying to get our dessert?" He teased and then turned to Tsuna, smiling friendly. "And you must be Tsunayoshi-kun. Nice to finally meet you."

Tsuna shyly smiled back, stepping slightly behind Hibari. "Nice to meet you."

I brought out the molds and the orange I used earlier to zest in the panna cotta. I soaked a cloth in hot water. "Is it okay if they joined us for dessert Tsuyoshi-san?"

"I don't see why not." Tsuna relaxed then, figuring out that Tsuyoshi didn't fear him.

"Who's here?" Takeshi decided to come in, surprised at seeing Hibari and Tsuna. He blurted out, "Dame-Tsuna?"

The atmosphere changed completely. Hibari glared, Tsuna flinched and completely hid behind his guardian and I stared shocked at Takeshi, a flicker of disappointment went through me.

"Takeshi-kun!"

Takeshi quickly waved his hands in apology, guilt on his face. "Sorry, it's just that everyone calls him that and it slipped. I was just surprised, I didn't know Hibari and Tsuna are friends."

"It's-it's okay." Tsuna softly murmured when he saw how Hibari and I were still tense. "He didn't mean it."

Awkward silence fell on all of us. Takeshi shuffled nervously, glancing at Tsuna who refused to meet his gaze and Hibari glaring at him. Fong decided to pop up conveniently. His eyes scanned the area confused at the silence, before widening slightly once black eyes fell on Hibari.

"Kyouya."

"Jiù jiù." Hibari greeted. I started, Hibari had just said uncle, the fandom was correct, Fong is Hibari's uncle. From his mother's side, if I remembered the Chinese title correctly.

"I'm glad to see you well." Fong put his hands in his robes. "Are you joining us for dessert?"

Hibari nudged Tsuna with his elbow and the shorter nodded his head.

"Wonderful, shall we head into the living room?" Fong retreated back into the living room not waiting for a response. Takeshi and Tsuyoshi followed, the former glad to disperse from the awkward situation.

"D-do you need help?" Tsuna asked, I gave him the task of unmolding the panna cotta onto plates, showing him to flip the bowl over a plate and putting the warm cloth over it. After a few minutes, I instructed him to slowly shake the bowl and the pudding would fall out. I cut the oranges out, removing the membrane skin and artistically plating it along with the pudding.

"I wonder if Lichi can eat it…" I wondered out loud as I put the remaining oranges in a bowl for the monkey. "Probably not."

Hibari, Tsuna and I brought the pudding out to the rest of the others in the living room. It was still awkward, but when Lichi stole oranges from everyone we all laughed and the atmosphere warmed up. Collecting the dishes, I noticed that Takeshi was holding a conversation with Tsuna. It was a one-sided banter, but Tsuna looked happy and listened to Takeshi, probably about baseball based on the motions Takeshi made.

Hibari and Fong were having their own conversation in Mandarin. Surprisingly Hibari was very fluent, from what I could hear. The time when Hibari asked me if I could speak Mandarin now made a bit more sense. Too bad I suck at it so much I can't converse in Mandarin with him.

When I saw Takeshi sling an arm around Tsuna's shoulder and Tsuna grinned, a happy one and not a shy one, Tsuyoshi and I shared a smile. Even though Takeshi and I were friends, it was nice to expand the circle, especially with someone the same age and gender. Not saying girls and boys couldn't be the best of friends, but the language barrier was a huge factor between Takeshi and I. Takeshi even managed to get Hibari to join the conversation, slinging his other arm around Hibari's shoulder.

Eventually tonfas would come out to punish the baseball payer, but it was peaceful and content.

It was nice to see the boys become friends.

* * *

September rolled in and the four of us formed a routine. Tsuna and Takeshi became fast friends in school. Although Tsuna was initially worried about Takeshi being teased at school because of Takeshi's sudden friendly relationship with him, the other students believed Takeshi was just humoring himself and eventually would break the friendship off one day. That idea was dispelled when Takeshi defended Tsuna from bullies who decided it would be fun to take Tsuna's bag and dump it in the river.

The scariest people were always the ones that always smiles.

Tsuna would come with Takeshi back home and I made sure the two of them ate healthy food that didn't come from the convenience store. The customers at TakeSushi at first were weary when Tsuna entered but eventually they relaxed as Takeshi and Tsuyoshi joked and ruffled Tsuna's hair. I think their line of thinking was if Tsuyoshi and Takeshi are okay from interacting with Tsuna, then they would be okay. Tsuna and Takeshi would occasionally help out in the shop after finishing homework, but while doing homework they would get distracted and only help out for an hour to two.

The ones who couldn't handle Tsuna, like Inoue, never came to eat when Tsuna would be in the shop, which was almost every day. But, Tsuyoshi never lost a huge number of customers, as the townspeople that liked Tsuna would visit TakeSushi more to speak with Tsuna and eat.

Hibari would come to TakeSushi later after doing whatever he does after school -maintaining discipline in Namimori probably- and would go back to Hibari's place with Tsuna.

On Sunday, we unanimously reached an agreement to spend the day at Hibari's place. I would clean the Yamamoto house with Takeshi and Tsuyoshi. Once the cleaning was done, Takeshi and I would walk down to grandma's store and pick whatever was fresh and looked good. It was adorable to see Takeshi flustered around grandma, not used to her affection. After shopping, both of us headed down to Hibari's house, cooked and ate dinner together.

It was only Tsuna, Takeshi and I who talked, but all of us knew Hibari was used to our chatter by now. He never told us to shut up or kick Takeshi and I out of the house, so we guessed he must like the company. Or at least the food was so good that he doesn't want to kick us out.

Tsuna's birthday was celebrated at TakeSushi when October came. I've never seen Tsuna smile so wide that day; there was cake and presents, standard birthday things but then I realized, maybe after Tsuna went to live with Hibari he never wanted to celebrate a birthday anymore. My gift, along with Takeshi, was a camera and an empty album. We hoped he would take pictures to remember the good times and a lot of photos were taken that day. Everyone's faces cheery and grinning.

Winter break came and snow fell, covering Namimori in a blanket of white. Hibari and I made sure that Tsuna and Takeshi finished their homework first before they went out to play. Cruel, but after finding out that Tsuna and Takeshi rushed to finished to their summer homework and not understanding anything, Hibari and I made a truce that they would take their education more seriously. English and some math and science, if I was able to understand the words, I could help with. Hibari handled all the other subjects and admitted that Japanese literature was his best and favourite subject.

More photos filled the photo album.

Entrance exams approached so Hibari and I tutored the two more rigorously, although this was just a mock test to find out where students placed in marks and not a test that determines their possibility of entering Namimori Middle, Hibari and I took it seriously, hoping to help the two get used to the stress with exams. Thanks to our efforts and theirs, Tsuna and Takeshi enrolled to Namimori Middle School with an average ranking (not dead last!) and that's when chaos hopped into town.

* * *

It was another Sunday, the day before Tsuna and Takeshi would enter Namimori Middle for the first time. Like in any school anime in the first episode where the narration would introduce the protagonist, cherry blossoms bloomed in Namimori.

"It's so beautiful." I sighed in content as Takeshi and I walked down a street that was lined with cherry blossoms.

"There's no cherry blossoms in Canada?"

"Where I lived there were, but there's something different about seeing it here." My house was near a school and many students lived in my area. That meant a lot of garbage thrown around, it ruined the nice picture of cherry blossoms in the neighbourhood.

It was still a little chilly so tonight's dinner was decided to be hotpot. Tsuna became more confident in cooking and he no longer needed my directions to cook. When this routine was going on for a month I felt that the four of us were like a family. I mentioned that out loud one time cooking with Tsuna and he stared at me, head slightly tilted in thought.

"Yeah, we are a family."

The smile he made when he said that phrase, I couldn't help but hug him and attracted Takeshi's and Hibari's attention. When I recounted our conversation, Takeshi grinned broadly.

"Then you're Maya-nee? And Hibari is Kyou-nii?"

"Uhh…" Glancing at Hibari but his face gave no indication of his feelings to his new nickname. "I'm okay with Maya-nee if you're okay with it…but Hibari-kun?"

"Maybe only in private?" Tsuna compromised.

Hibari relaxed and the two 'younger brothers' high-fived in victory.

"What should I call you two then?" I never really heard a shorten form for younger brothers in Japanese. It would be the name and 'nii' added to the end, I never heard a name and 'to' added.

"Tsuna."

"Takeshi. That goes for you guys too, Tsuna, Hibari." Tsuna had only called Takeshi Yamamoto and Hibari tended to say the full name. Takeshi then had a thought, "Since Maya-nee is the oldest, does that mean Kyou-nii also calls her that?"

The three of us stared at Hibari. He stared back at us deadpanned and said in the most monotone voice ever, "Maya-nee."

We burst out laughing, his face looked so uncomfortable when he said my name. Wiping tears from my eyes I said, "Whatever's comfortable with you Hibari-kun."

"Kyouya." He said, startling the three of us. We gaped for a second, he was letting us call him by his first name! Kyouya then sighed resignedly. "Kyou-nii when only the four of us."

Months later, the four of us were now used to calling each other by our designated names, Takeshi was the only one to do it without stuttering in the beginning. Tsuna and I, the first few times, fumbled and laughed before we got used to it. Takeshi never got Kyouya to shorten our names, he always say it in full. Tsuna was Tsunayoshi, Takeshi was Takeshi and I was Amaya. Takeshi never gave up, but it fit with Kyouya's character.

The doorbell rang and I dried my hands on a nearby towel and went to the door. Sometimes the maid would come by to stock up on more seasonings and desserts, which was actually nice since seasonings were kinda pricey.

"Yes?" Opening the door, I expected to see the maid, Hana-san, but I saw nothing. "Uh…"

"Down here."

I stared down at a familiar fedora with a yellow band and a green chameleon perched on top of it. Black, beady eyes stared up at me and two curly side bangs bounced lightly from the movement.

"Ciaossu!"

_Fuck._

* * *

AN: The last of the prologue. Yay for main story! You guys must be tired of how Maya-centric this has been, but I will aim for more focus on the brotherly relationships. Keep in mind though, Maya is not there all the time, so I may skip out parts and settle with the 'aftermath'.

Edit: Fixed up some grammar (oops!) and forgot to state that the song Maya sings is 'Sakura Nagashi'


	4. Target 1: Lineage

Target I: Lineage  
-Skyefinal

* * *

"Ciaossu!"

The squeaky baby voice broke me out of my internal swearing monologue. I squatted so our eyes were more or less on the same level.

"Hey there…" Black beady eyes stared back. _Geez, they look like an abyss, scary_. I tried my best to make my mind as blank as possible, who knew if Reborn was really able to read minds? "What are you doing here?"

"I'm looking for a Sawada Tsunayoshi."

Before I could reply my vision was filled with a black nozzle of a handgun. I flailed and landed on my butt, scooting backwards until I hit the edge of the genkan. The atmosphere thickened, there was something heavy pressing me down. Is this what killing intent is? _I can't breathe!_

"Who are you?" Click.

_Oh crap safety lock is off. Crap crap crap…_

"Y-Yamamoto Amaya."

My scream pierced the air.

"I'll ask again," Reborn held the smoking gun to my face. His face darkened. "Who are you?"

Rapid footsteps caught my ear and I leaned back to see Tsuna, Takeshi and Kyouya running down the hall. "Stop! Don't come closer!"

I let out another scream when a second shot fired. I whipped my head to stare in shock at Reborn and I felt warmth trickled down my cheek.

"Maya!"

Takeshi hauled me up and shoved me behind him along with Tsuna, who steadied me when I nearly tripped. I used the back of my hand to wipe my cheek and I looked down at the small smear of blood. Lightly swatting Tsuna's hands away, I peaked behind Takeshi's back and watched the fight between the prefect and the baby.

I saw frustration build up in Kyouya's expression as Reborn fluidly evaded his attacks. Kyouya's movements grew more recklessly as he couldn't land a hit. Probably Reborn got tired of entertaining the younger male, but he ended the fight with a kick to the chest that knocked Kyouya down to the ground.

"Kyouya!"

The three of us rushed over to the fallen prefect. Kyouya sat up with a pout and glared at Reborn. Besides his bruised pride, he didn't have any other injuries. Takeshi stood protectively in front while Tsuna and I kneeled next to Kyouya. Tsuna was the first to speak.

"Who are you?"

"My name is Reborn." The baby tilted his fedora up, smirking. "The world's greatest hitman."

He tilted his head when none of us gave a reaction. Kyouya still had his glare, I had an indifferent reaction, and Tsuna and Takeshi looked like they didn't believe Reborn but knew there was some truth in the baby's words. If we hadn't had known about Fong, we probably would've denied his words.

"Ah well…" Takeshi scratched the back of his head. "What to say?"

"Humph. In any case, get away from the girl."

"What?"

"That girl has no records at all. Nothing." Reborn glared zeroed onto me, I flinched. "She could be an assassin."

Right, since Tsuyoshi-san and Takeshi found me that day…we never really signed any documents about making me officially his niece. That does seem suspicious.

"What are you talking about?" Tsuna asked outraged. "Maya-nee wouldn't kill us!"

"Regardless, it still suspicious how she has no identification papers."

"So?" Takeshi came to my defense. "Maya is Maya. She won't hurt us."

"Naïve."

Kyouya was the next to speak. "Where is your proof that Amaya is an assassin?"

Reborn sighed, "I didn't say for sure she was one, but it's a possibility."

"Why do you care?" Tsuna stared evenly at Reborn, his tone polite but demanding. "Why should we trust you when you attacked us?"

"Not bad." Reborn grinned, analyzing Tsuna. "Because you, Sawada Tsunayoshi, are the next in line to the Vongola Famiglia, the largest and most powerful mafia family in Italy."

"Hiee!?"

* * *

Somehow by some unspoken truce, all of us relocated into Kyouya's living room. Tsuna carefully cleaned my cut with alcohol and used white medical tape to bandage it despite my protests that it was only a small cut and didn't need any bandages. Takeshi placed tea down on the table while Tsuna repacked the medical kit and nearly dropped it when the chameleon licked his hand. Reborn introduced his pet as Leon and began his explanation when Leon returned to his fedora.

"The Vongola family is the largest and most powerful mafia syndicate in Italy. Currently it is headed by the Ninth, Vongola Nono, Timoteo. As a favour for the Ninth, I agreed to tutor one Sawada Tsunayoshi into a respectable boss as Vongola Decimo, the Tenth."

Tsuna could only gape at the information Reborn was telling him. "I don't understand!" He tugged at his hair, panicking. "Why me? I'm not even Italian! I'm only a normal middle school student!"

"One with horrible grades earning you the nickname Dame-Tsuna." Reborn said nonchalantly, ignoring the glares Kyouya, Takeshi and I sent him. Somewhere form his tiny body Reborn brought out a family tree showing the lineage of the Vongola family. "There are two lines in the Vongola. Your blood traces back to the Primo, the first leader of Vongola. When he retired the Second took over Vongola and made his own line, the one the Ninth descends from. But your blood is considered the purest since you descend from the Primo line making you eligible to lead Vongola."

"Amazing Tsuna!" Takeshi laughed. "You're part Italian!"

"Takeshi! That's not the point!" Tsuna whined. "I don't want to be a boss! This is too crazy!"

Tsuna's head snapped back from the kick Reborn bestowed on him. I quickly grabbed onto his shoulders so he wouldn't smack his head on the floor. From the corner of my eyes I saw Kyouya reach for his tonfas. Tsuna rubbed his head. "Ow! What was that for?"

"A mafia boss does not whine."

"I told you! I won't be a mafia boss! Why does it have to be me?"

"Because you are the only one." Reborn calmly sipped his tea. He grabbed another set of photos form his pocket (was he Doraemon!?) and showed it to us. A young man with spikey brown hair in a striped suit smiled at the camera, he had a slight cocky look in his eyes. "All of the candidates, the Ninth's sons, died. Enrico was the most qualified as the next leader," Reborn flipped to another photo. "But he died in a feud."

Tsuna gave a small squeak at the graphic picture. Enrico's face was covered in blood and bullet wounds littered his chest. I drew Tsuna closer to give him some comfort and he buried his head into my shoulder when Reborn continued. Playing a lot of horror games cured me of any discomfort with pictures like that.

The next photo showed a plumper man with bangs styled fashionably but dressed more comfortably than his brother, Enrico. The picture was taken when he was eating ice cream. Reborn showed us his death, "Massimo was next but he drowned."

Takeshi's face paled when he glanced at Massimo's fear-stricken appearance in the water. Body stiff and an arm was stretched to reach the surface, blood was evident on his fingernails, showing he tried in vain to untie the rope around his foot that held him down. Kyouya murmured to Takeshi and the younger relaxed, smiled shakily at the elder, he lowered his gaze to avoid looking.

The next person was another young man with messy hair and a wide grin. He held a soccer ball and was waving to another off to the side. "The last candidate was the youngest son. Federico was the favourite child of the Ninth, but no one knew who killed him. All we could find was a pile of bones."

I grimaced at the last photo and made sure Tsuna didn't look up. It appeared to be taken in a forest and someone had dug the bones back up. There was still some flesh attached to the skull too. Reborn finally put away the photos, he almost looked like he enjoyed causing us to feel sick from the pictures.

"You are the last candidate, without you the Vongola will collapse."

No one spoke at the declaration. Tsuna gripped his hands, turning his head to face the hitman. "And if I refuse?"

"There's no refusal. There's no escape." Reborn stated, eyes glinting. "I have never failed any of my jobs before and I refuse to fail this one."

Kyouya snarled. "You will not put a student of Namimori in danger."

"That's why I'm here."

"Wait wait wait." Takeshi waved his hands. "I don't get it. If this Ninth person knew that Tsuna was a candidate why didn't he tell Tsuna's dad? If there were people dying why didn't he get some bodyguards or something?"

Reborn hesitated for a second before answering. "Sawada Iemitsu is the head of the CEDEF, the Consulenza Esterna Della Famiglia, also known as the External Advisors of the Family. He knew his blood could lead the Vongola, but because the Ninth had three sons who would succeed the line, he felt it wasn't necessary to say to the world his son was a potential candidate. He yearned for a normal family."

"So Tsunayoshi is the scapegoat?" Kyouya sneered. "The herbivore ignored his son, protecting other's sons and only when there was no other choice decided now was the time to seek out his own blood?"

"There was no other choice." Reborn resignedly said. "Trust me that no one predicted this to happen."

"So dad's in the mafia." Tsuna whispered. He clenched his fists. "I didn't believe his stories of how he was working in the North Pole or 'going off to be a star', but all this time he was in the mafia." Tsuna let out a bark of laughter and covered his face.

"Why can't he be the boss?"

"As an external advisor, he is unable to be the Tenth. They are separate from the Vongola."

"Please tell me Reborn-san," Tsuna stared up pleadingly, "Does he at least protect mom?"

"Sawada Nana is under the protection of the Vongola. Where she lives is constantly guarded and watched for any intruders."

Tsuna shook his head. "I'm asking if _he_ is the one protecting mom."

The fedora covered Reborn's eyes. "Iemitsu is a busy man."

"I see." Tsuna shoulders dropped, it wasn't hard to see the disappointment pooling in his eyes.

"I'll be enough to protect you until you gather your family members." Reborn declared, he eyed Takeshi and Kyouya. "Though you might already have some."

_Hey! I can fight too!_

"No." Tsuna sat up straight, glaring back at the baby. Everyone's eyes widened when brown eyes melted into blazing amber. There were times when Kyouya and I have seen Tsuna's eyes had flecks of amber, fighting back bullies for example, but this was the first time it completely changed. Reborn smirked, eyes glinting in attentiveness. "You will not bring any of my family into this mess."

"They are already involved the moment they formed a bond with you."

Tsuna deflated, confident amber disappearing into worried brown. I could practically hear his thoughts.

_All my fault. People getting hurt around me, all my fault. _

_I've cursed them._

"None of that." I lightly bopped his head. "It's our choice, you are not going to do this alone."

"Yeah Tsuna!" Takeshi slung an arm around Tsuna's shoulder. "Don't worry! We'll be here!"

"You are still under my care, Tsunayoshi."

The future boss ducked his head but not fast enough to hide his wet eyes from the three of us.

* * *

"Now," Reborn dropped a stack of papers in front of me. "You need to fill this out."

"What?" The characters on the papers were an unfamiliar to me.

"Why are you adopting Maya-nee, Reborn?" Tsuna tilted his head, I nearly dropped the papers in shock.

"Is that even allowed? A baby adopting me?"

Reborn smacked Tsuna's head. Leon waddled over to Tsuna, flicking out his tongue to lick at Tsuna's cheek. "I'm not. Yamamoto Tsuyoshi is."

"Hiie!?"

"Did Tsuyoshi-san agree to this?" I sifted through the papers, noticing the seal for Tsuyoshi placed where it was needed to make it official. "Or did you force him?"

"Dad was actually thinking of really adopting you, Maya-nee." Takeshi rubbed the back of his neck. "He was hesitant though, because you were still trying to find your family. But if you couldn't, then we could be your new family. You practically are now."

"Oh Takeshi…" Gratitude welled up in my chest. I smiled shyly at Takeshi. "I didn't think…"

"Maya-nee?" Tsuna and Kyouya glanced curiously at the two of us.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to keep this a secret." I lowered my gaze, I wasn't sure what their reactions would be. Family doesn't keep secrets from each other. "I'm not really Takeshi's cousin. I was found on the streets without almost all of my memories gone and Tsuyoshi-san helped me by giving me a home and a job.

"I was planning to go to Canada. I remembered that I lived there, I remembered where my house was but it's different now. Not the same. I don't even know if I should go anymore. Each day I forget more and more…" Melancholy made me trail off, I shook my head and continued. "I was thinking of maybe starting a new life here."

_Especially if I know I'm here for a purpose. Once I complete it, I should be able to go home._

"Sorry for hiding this."

"It's fine." Tsuna shrugged. Seeing my surprised look he smiled. "It doesn't matter what your past was, Maya-nee. Only you can decide who you want to be and how."

I lightly pushed his shoulder. "Brat."

Glancing at Kyouya for his reaction, he merely scoffed but I could see he didn't mind, more like he couldn't care less. Reborn gave a small cough and gestured towards the paper, impatience showing on his expression.

"This is so if the police ever do a background check around Tsuna, you won't arouse suspicion."

I saw Tsuna gave a small twitch when Reborn used his first name. Right, suddenly saying your given name without a suffix implies a close relationship, I wonder if Tsuna is happy someone wants to be close to him or mad that a stranger thinks he can be close to him.

"So I'm not an assassin now?"

A snort. "An acquaintance of mine assured me you were harmless."

_Fong probably._

"Then why'd you attack me!?"

"To test you."

If I had those anime sweat drops I'm pretty sure one would be falling on the side of my head now. "You owe Kyouya money to fix the holes in the walls."

"Vongola will cover it."

Humming, I started to fill out the form. Generic information like name, age, and sex were easy to fill out, but my pen slowed as I reached the birthdate section. "My birthday…"

"Oh! We never did ask when was your birthday." Tsuna said apologetically.

"It's fine. I don't really remember…"

* * *

_"Mui mui, this year is special for you!"_

_A warm voice brought me out of reading my textbook. I watched the back of the woman (mom...?) prepare vegetables, shrimp, mushrooms and more into a porcelain pot on the stove._

_"Why?"_

_"This year Chinese New Year is the same day as your birthday!"_

_"Really? Does that mean I get more lai see?"_

_I giggled as a moved out of the wooden spoon's path to my head. I snuck in a hug and squeezed the woman and stole a piece of shrimp. This time the wooden spoon hit its mark._

* * *

"Hey Kyouya." My voice was soft, still feeling nostalgic at another memory of my family. "Do you remember the date of Chinese New Year from two years ago?"

He raised an eyebrow. "January 23rd."

I wrote the date down, my eyes lightly traced the information before me. A bubble of happiness made me a bit giddy, I have an identity now!

"You remembered your birthday?" Tsuna asked excitedly.

"I remembered it landed on Chinese New Year. I think I was reading a chemistry book that I took two years ago when my mom told me."

"Ah!" Takeshi hit his fist into his palm. "We missed it!"

"Next time."

Reborn took the papers from me, double-checking for any mistakes. He nodded. "In a week or two your ID will come. The story is that your real parents passed away when you were young and you were given to Tsuyoshi's brother in Canada. But they were newlyweds, they couldn't afford to raise a baby so you were given to an orphanage. Tsuyoshi heard of this and decided to give you a real home after finally tracking you down when you were in high school."

"That's a little complicated…"

"Wasn't me who made this story…Iemitsu was the one who fabricated it." Reborn huffed, annoyed. "You wanted to at least finish high school in Canada and then decided to move here in Japan to work in his sushi store."

I stared incredulously at Reborn. "And people will believe this?"

"Maa maa," Takeshi laughed. "I like it!"

"Only you Takeshi…" Noticing the lowering sun and the time, I stood up. "Well, that's enough excitement for one day. Maybe I'll wake up tomorrow and this will all be a dream. Tsuna, will you give me a hand with the miso soup? The chirazushi is done and all that's left is dessert, but the daifuku shouldn't take too long."

"Okay!"

"Sounds delicious." All heads moved to the tiny voice who spoke. "Hm?"

"Ah no, just…" Tsuna and I glanced unsurely at each other, not sure how to kick the unwanted guest out.

"You're staying?" Takeshi asked.

Reborn nodded. " To protect Tsuna I will need to be with him at all time. I already moved my belongings into his room."

"Hiee!?"

Kyouya stood up, tonfas ready to beat the baby down. Hibari was pretty territorial and moving into his house without any notice was a big no-no.

Reborn, however, remained calm. "If you can really defeat me and throw me out then do so. Until then you're too weak, how can you protect Tsuna if you can't beat me?"

Reluctantly Kyouya slumped back down in his seat, a frown marring his normally straight face.

"Well now…" Awkwardly trying to break the atmosphere, I motioned towards the kitchen to Tsuna. "Shall we?"

When in doubt, back away and think again on a clearer head and a fuller stomach.

* * *

Shuffling towards the garden once more I let my thoughts wander.

Dinner was…interesting. Besides the fact Reborn kept stealing Tsuna's food and claiming it was to train Tsuna to be more attentive. Can't really do that if you're hungry and still mulling over that a baby has highly developed motor capabilities.

Things are definitely changing, it was Nana who saw the ad to hire Reborn as a tutor, but he came at his own accord. Unless Kyouya saw the ad…probably threw it away too. Him and I are tutoring Tsuna and Takeshi anyways. _Since Reborn came, I'm now in the Daily Life Arc…which consisted of getting family members and guardians._

Reborn found two of the guardians; I wonder how Tsuna will find the others. Will it change or will it be the same? Storm, lightning, sun, and mist…mist will be the last for sure. Gokudera will come because of Reborn's orders, Lambo because his family threw him out and Sasagawa…actually how did Tsuna meet him? Did his sister get kidnapped and Tsuna rescued her and met him in mid-rescue? Eh…it'll work out I guess.

But more on important matters, how is Tsuna really taking this? It seems like he still cares for his mother but his father…after today I don't think he respects his father anymore.

My mind went back to dinner, Tsuna hardly talked when he was eating. Takeshi and I tried hard to bring him in the conversation but he would quietly mutter a response and go back silent. Kyouya and I shared looks, but we assumed it was because Reborn was there.

"You can't!"

Stopping at the shout, I peered behind the wall to look into the garden. Tsuna and Takeshi were sitting down not unlike how Tsuna and I did few months back the first time we met.

"If I'm going to protect you I can't focus on both baseball and Shigure Soen Ryu."

"But you love baseball!"

"I do." Takeshi said, his eyes warmed at his next sentence. "But I love you more Tsuna."

"Takeshi…"

"Tsuna, did you know at one point I hated baseball?" Takeshi confessed. "I joined baseball because I liked it and I thought everyone else liked it too. But then everyone started relying only on me to play well. We joked and had fun, but we weren't that close, there was this everlasting distance between me and the other teammates."

Takeshi's smile turned wry. "You know one time I sprained my ankle really bad before an important match, I couldn't play. Everyone said 'be careful next time Yamamoto! We need you!', not one of them said 'are you okay?' to me. They only cared about winning, not about me.

"But then Maya came and kept telling me that a team supports each other. And then you and Kyouya became my friends, family, and life became fun again. If I hadn't met you guys…if I had injured myself once more, I would've ended my life."

Tsuna gripped Takeshi's arm, shaking, unable to think that Takeshi would end his life. "And now? Please say you won't!"

"I won't." Takeshi promised. "Even if the baseball gods threw me aside, I still have my family." Tsuna relaxed, smiling back. "That's why I'll get stronger, to protect everyone, to protect you Tsuna."

"That's what I'm afraid of." Tsuna admitted, eyes downcast. "Everyone getting hurt over me."

"You know what _we're_ afraid of Tsuna? You getting hurt."

"But-!"

"We'll get stronger to protect you _and_ ourselves. Trust us."

Smiling at the bromance, I quietly edged away and my back bumped into a chest.

"What are you doing?" The voice whispered in my ear.

Naturally, my reaction was to scream, flail, and fall down. Conveniently falling down away from the wall that was hiding me from view, Tsuna and Takeshi snapped their heads towards the commotion.

Rubbing my head, I glanced up at Kyouya. "Don't scare me, please. My heart. Can't handle the strain."

He merely stared back at me, though he did offer me a hand.

"Haha."

"Are you okay, Maya-nee?"

"I'm fine, Tsuna." I reached up the hand and was pulled up. Stretching and popping bones back into place, I pouted at Kyouya. He took a seat next to Takeshi and I sat next to Tsuna.

"I didn't mean to eavesdrop, sorry. I was going to leave but someone decided to scare me." I threw a mock glare at the culprit.

Snickering, the two younger brothers laughed at me. I gave them a noogie as revenge. While we were fooling around, Kyouya cleared his throat.

"I share the same thoughts as Takeshi, Tsunayoshi." Kyouya said, startling the three of us from our noogie-fest. He looked over to us a stare, which in Kyouya-language meant 'dear god do I really know these people?'.

"I lived alone before you were dropped here." Kyouya averted his gaze from the audience. "It was bearable but after you came…" He coughed into his fist.

Kyouya ended awkwardly but the three of us understood his intent.

"Glad to hear, Kyou-nii." Takeshi dragged Kyouya closer into the body pile. Tsuna was unfortunate to pushed by Takeshi when he dragged Kyouya over. Tsuna toppled over with his head landing on my lap, squawking. I laughed and continued his noogie. Takeshi linked one of my arms and one of Kyouya's in his and laughed. "Now we're like a family!"

"I will bite you to death."

"Come on Kyou-nii!"

"Unhand me."

Giggling at the scene, I threaded my fingers through Tsuna's hair. Concern made me stop when I felt Tsuna's shoulders shaking and my lap felt a bit damp. "Tsuna?"

"Thank you."

_Thank you for being my friends, my family. Thank you for staying with me._

Not tears of sadness, but of happiness.

Kyouya and Takeshi stilled. A faint smile made its way on Kyouya's face while Takeshi and I had identical grins. Humming a random tune, I continued playing with Tsuna's hair. Tsuna shifted into a more comfortable position and the four of us just sat there, a comfortable silence where none of us spoke but just content to sit with each other settled upon us.

"I'm always crying on your clothes."

"Hehe, it's fine. You had a stressful day."

"Is Reborn sleeping in your room, Tsuna?"

"Yeah. He sleeps with his eyes open, it's kinda scary. And he put booby traps everywhere!"

"Maybe you should switch rooms, Tsuna."

"I don't think he'll really harm me. He just likes his sleep."

"Haha, what an interesting baby!"

"If he really is a baby…"

"He's the same as my uncle."

"Older then he looks and something mysterious about him?"

Kyouya nodded.

Takeshi yawned, arms stretching above his head. "No use worrying about it I guess."

Tsuna curled up into a ball, eyes drooping and nodded in agreement. He looked up at me. "Sing a song please?"

"Ah well…I hummed before? Don't use those eyes Tsuna, please-dammit." Tsuna smiled in victory. I ignored the curious stares from Takeshi and Kyouya and tried to find a fitting song. Deciding on a song I listened on repeat forever when I entered university, I coughed to clear my throat and starting singing.

"_If I had happened to choose a slightly different future that day…_  
_I'm asking the shaking window that reflects the days I've become used to seeing._  
_Everyone gets hurt by longing for something,_  
_Surely, they are living while treasuring the single "now" that they've chosen…_

"_As we are, let's starting walking once again and overcome our sadness…On a road that doesn't belong to anyone, nor have a name. Tomorrow will be like that too_."

Takeshi slowly nodded off, head falling on Kyouya's shoulder.

"_Face your dreams, worry, laugh and smile. The person I am here and now is everything to me, that alone won't change_.

"_That's right, being incomplete, my anxiety made me stand still_  
_The fleeting time passed by, if I'm able to accept it all as I am…_  
_So that I can cut through to the future with this vow, so that these feelings will reach you._

_Now, I really trust myself._"

When I finished Tsuna and Takeshi were already sleeping. My expression turned soft at how peaceful they looked, Tsuna and Takeshi snuggled into their respective human pillows. When Kyouya carefully picked up Takeshi, which looked a bit awkward since Takeshi was taller and all limbs but Kyouya was strong and made it work, I carried Tsuna as well to put them to bed. We sometimes had spontaneous sleepovers so there was no need to contact Tsuyoshi about not going back home for the night.

"He's still kind of light…" I lowered my voice to avoid waking the two.

"Tsunayoshi was never one to eat in large amounts."

"Maybe I should make more high calorie food..."

We both stilled once we turned the corner, protectively tightening the grips on our charges when we noticed the house intruder in the hallway. Kyouya continued walking, jerking his head to me to follow him.

The baby followed us. Kyouya continued until reaching doors a bit farther than Tsuna's. He turned to the baby. "Until you are trusted by Tsunayoshi, I will not trust you."

Kyouya nudged the door open and once I entered, he slammed it shut in front of the hitman's face.

"Annoyed much?"

Kyouya huffed and gently placed Takeshi onto the futon. He shuffled towards the closet and brought out another futon next to Takeshi. I placed Tsuna on the extra one and smiled when he reached out for something to latch onto. He found Takeshi's arm and snuggled it, like it was a stuff animal. Takeshi, in response, threw an arm over and squeezed Tsuna like those _dakimakura_; the two of them looked so comfortable.

"Cute."

"Disgusting."

But the way Kyouya sat defensively next to them, facing the door to face any trespassers, spoke the opposite.

Surveying the room, it was quite large with a sofa on the left, a desk on the right and sliding doors that opened to what I assumed to be another garden. A corkboard was put above the desk and various photos littered it. Other then that, there were no other furniture or decorations.

_They look like the ones Tsuna took…oh!_

We were in Kyouya's room.

"I guess I'll head into a spare room next door."

"Why?"

"No room here."

Kyouya glimpsed at the futons, Tsuna and Takeshi had curled up together on one futon so technically there was enough room for me to sleep.

"Where will you sleep?"

Kyouya shrugged.

"You need to sleep eventually. I don't think Reborn will do anything since Tsuna is important."

I settled down into the futon next to the sleeping duo, having done so many sleepovers it wasn't so awkward anymore to sleep next to the middle school students. Letting out yawn, I reminded Kyouya once more to please sleep and let myself fall asleep.

* * *

_"Hello again!"_

_The cheerful voice woke me up. I still couldn't see anything so I closed my eyes, might as well to try to get some sleep._

_"You again. Hello."_

_"So I see the Sun Arcobaleno has made his move."_

_"Yeah, goodbye peaceful days."_

_"I apologize."_

_"Why? It's not like you made Reborn come."_

_"What will you do?"_

_"Any chance of you telling me why you brought me here?" Silence. "Thought so. I'll stick around, I'm not going to leave Tsuna alone."_

_Laughter._

_"Thank you."_

* * *

_A/N:_ Sorry for the long break, it was a bit of a hassle getting school under control. First step in Daily Life Arc! I might go a bit faster to get into the juicy parts, but I will definitely not miss the important characters.

Hopefully the pacing wasn't too weird here...can't wait to introduce everyone!

Song is by Arashi, _boku ga boku no subete_. Lyric translation by yarukizero!


	5. Target 2: Fallacy

Target II: Fallacy  
-Skyefinal

* * *

I woke up to voices. Cozy and warm I squeezed my pillow and shifted into a better position, it was too early to wake up.

"Aw, aren't they cute?"

A voice scoffed. "Disgusting."

"Is that your catchphrase besides 'I'll bite you to death'?"

"I don't think she knows yet…" Another voice was very close to me, maybe almost under me? I dismissed my thought, my brain doesn't work that well in the morning.

"Hn."

I nuzzled the soft thing that was under my chin and I heard Takeshi laughed.

"Eep!"

"Maya-nee, you awake?"

"No." I swatted a hand up in protest. I cleared my throat. Ugh, I sounded like I died. "Wanna sleep."

"You can't!" Takeshi whined, throwing himself on top of me. I wheezed and groaned, my pillow also squeaked. It's hard to fall asleep with a heavy body on top of you. "Today is cleaning day. Please don't leave me alone and make me clean by myself!"

"Hmm." I pretended to contemplate the idea of actually leaving Takeshi to clean the entire Hibari house. I snuggled deeper into the covers and buried my face into my warm and breathing pillow.

Wait.

I opened my eyes and saw a mass of brown.

Oh. I used Tsuna as my personal pillow for quite a while now, judging by Takeshi's laugh. Shrugging, Tsuna squeaked when I gave another squeeze.

"You're an awesome pillow Tsuna."

"Thank…you?"

Blearily looking up I saw the time was seven in the morning, sunlight filtered into Kyouya's room and made me want to sleep again. Yawning, I dropped a quick kiss to Tsuna's forehead and sat up.

"Alright, time to clean."

"No fair!" Takeshi waved his hands. "I want one too!"

"What?"

Takeshi pointed at Tsuna who had a hand pressed against his forehead, cheeks flushed.

_Yeah, my brain doesn't work well in the morning. I wondered if I was that affectionate with my family…kinda felt like second nature to do that._

"Sorry Tsuna. I turn a bit weird when I just wake up."

"N-no it's fine." Tsuna shyly smiled. "It was…nice."

Takeshi pouted.

Laughing I reached for Takeshi's head and planted one on his forehead. He chuckled and turned to Kyouya. The prefect quickly edged away, a faintest hint of panic on his face. Takeshi and Tsuna both jumped on him, giggling as Kyouya flailed.

"Quick Maya-nee!"

"Kyou-nii, just accept the love!"

"I'll bite you to death!"

Tsuna, feeling quite courageous, snuck a kiss to Kyouya's cheek. Not one to be outdone, Takeshi kissed the other. Not used to this level of affection, Kyouya stilled and had a dumbfounded expression on his face. Smiling softly, I smoothed back Kyouya's bangs away and kissed him gently on his temple. He stiffened and I felt a small ache in my chest.

_Gestures like these are so foreign to Kyouya, envied by Takeshi and unknown to Tsuna. Takeshi gets his hair ruffled by Tsuyoshi-san, but Tsuna and Kyouya…well I broke that barrier now._

"Sorry for the spontaneity Kyouya."

"Humph."

_At least he's still responding and not smacking us on the head…_

"Alright, shall we split the tasks?"

"Nooo….." Takeshi groaned.

"At least we only clean the house once a month."

"This could be a good chance to check for bugs." Takeshi added, noticing the looks he received Takeshi shrugged. "You know, that kid might have bugs around to listen into our conversations, like in the movies."

Tsuna chuckled. "I thought he was an assassin, not a spy."

"Same thing."

"Not really." A squeaky voice said from outside the room.

"Hiie!"

"Rude to listen through the door you know." I said, standing up to open the door. Reborn didn't walk in but gave each of us a look, his gaze zoned in on Tsuna when he spoke.

"After breakfast we have much to discuss."

* * *

Scooping the rice into my bowl, the discussion started when I sat down.

"You're too thin, weak, and you lack the upbringing from a mafia child." Straight and blunt Reborn listed the faults Tsuna had. "In order for you to get ready to take over the Vongola, you need to be trained."

Tsuna winced and shrank into himself. "I-is there really no one else…?"

"Vongola only accepts those carrying the Vongola blood." A shadow went over Reborn's eyes. "There is no one else capable."

_If only Xanxus could take the throne, but where would Vongola be then? A mafia family not built in trust, but in fear…_

"Starting today you will do a run around Namimori and I'll gradually up your menu once you get the hang of it. In addition to your school work, you'll learn the history of Vongola and all the enemies and allies of Vongola."

"Hiie.." Brown eyes widened. "B-but!"

"No buts!" Reborn brought out his gun and shot a warning to the ceiling. "Start now."

"Dammit Reborn." I shielded my rice bowl in case of ceiling flakes falling into it. "You can't just keep putting holes in everywhere. We're cleaning today."

"Vongola will cover it." Reborn smirked.

"Baby…" Hibari warned.

"Don't worry, that was a blank."

"There's got to be a limit to how much Vongola can cover things…"

"Haha let's go Tsuna!" Takeshi grinned. "It'll be fun, I'll run with you!"

"O-okay…"

I grabbed Takeshi's arm before he bolted. "Hold it. Finish your breakfast, clean and _then _run. After cleaning that'll be enough time for your stomach to digest everything."

"Aw."

I flicked Takeshi's head. "No escaping from cleaning."

"They can run first and then have breakfast."

Kyouya snorted. "They'll drop without any fuel."

Tiny black eyes glinted in sadistic glee. "If they have the proper motivation they won't."

Kyouya and I glared at the baby, we both denied him at the same time.

"No."

The hitman pouted. "Fine."

Breakfast continued relatively normally as Reborn explained more what Tsuna had to learn to lead and survive in the mafia world. Noting that Tsuna was pretty petite, Reborn would work Tsuna to use his size as an advantage in battle, so agility training would be first. Muscle will build eventually Reborn explained so knowledge was the next obstacle.

"In the Vongola family, you will have the advising family, the CEDEF, to help you. Nono will also help you the first two years of leading Vongola before formally retiring but that doesn't mean he won't be there as a resource."

"Who will lead the CEDEF?" Kyouya asked.

"Iemitsu. Although he is training a successor."

"Tch."

"I-is it possible to have another advising family?" Tsuna questioned, thumbs twiddling.

Reborn titled his head, analyzing Tsuna and his intentions. It wasn't hard to understand that Tsuna didn't trust his father nor his successor. "Maybe, that's up to you."

"Okay."

"There's also another task you'll have to do when training, finding your Guardians."

Tsuna glanced over to Kyouya and I, raising an eyebrow at Reborn. The baby smacked Tsuna in the head. "Not those type of guardians, but your Vongola Guardians. They are the ones who will be by your side when you inherit Vongola. They are the ones to protect you and your most closest allies."

He motioned to Kyouya and Takeshi. "They are a part of your famiglia but they can also be your guardians. Each one has a different duty, but they are all there to protect the boss. Which brings me to the next part, can you three fight?"

"Dad's going to teach me his Shigure Soen Ryu!"

Kyouya crossed his arms, offended that Reborn even asked. "Humph."

"Uhhh…"

Reborn sighed, "The main problem is you."

"Hey!" Although it was true I wanted to at least defend myself. "I can fight!"

"Not well enough. Hibari has his tonfas and Yamamoto will have a sword. Tsuna eventually will get a weapon once he is ready but what can you use?"

"Um." I racked my brains for any type of memory. Have I even fought with a weapon before? My eyes glazed over when a scene appeared in my head; despite me losing my memory each day, I found that conveniently memories would pop up to help me in situations like this.

"_En garde!"_

_I peered through the mesh mask and readjusted my stance. Left hand back, shoulders back and straight. Right foot pointing forward and back foot perpendicular, crouch with your knees slightly bent and be careful not to pop out the kneecap. Eye the hand not the tip and aim for any opening when they lunge. _

"_Allez!"_

Rubbing my head at the sudden headache, I answered Reborn. Memories were convenient, but always left me with a hammer striking my brain. "I think I did fencing?"

Reborn nodded, pleased. "Better than nothing, we can start with that."

Shrugging, I collected the dishes since everyone finished eating. "Alright, who wants to do what for today?"

"Dishes and vacuuming!"

"Laundry is okay with me."

"Dusting."

"Alright, I get bathroom duties again." I crinkled my nose in mock disgust but in all honesty there was some pleasure in making the tiles shine without any traces of dust. Takeshi liked doing dishes and vacuuming since it was easy, Tsuna was the only one who understood the fact to separate colours with clothes and Kyouya was very particular about dusting and wiping all surfaces.

We all had our quirks about cleanliness.

"Are you going to clean?" Reborn shook his head.

"Going to make a baby clean?"

"Well…"

"Shame on you."

"But you're not really a baby…"

* * *

"Why am I here?"

Takeshi, Tsuna and I were in running clothes and faced Reborn who was grinning.

"Training."

"I know, but what about Kyouya?"

The prefect had looked at the three of us and left without uttering a single word. Probably patrolling Namimori and honestly, probably didn't want to run with us. He got enough exercise from chasing his victims around.

Heh, truly like a carnivore.

"He'll have a separate training regimen."

"Oh…"

Reborn clucked his tongue. "What are you doing wasting time? Go!"

Tsuna and Takeshi ran off leaving me behind when Reborn started shooting his blanks. Namimori was pretty big and I knew I needed to conserve my energy to last that long so I started a light jog. I'll take longer but at least I wouldn't pass out in the middle.

"You're too slow."

Shrugging, I focused on running instead of wasting air to reply back to Reborn and his criticism. I'll focus on speed once I'm used to running. Sitting in classrooms and studying bent over a desk lowered desire to be physically active. Also no matter what anyone says, chasing after skytrains and busses do not count as physical activity and exercise.

Reborn jumped off ahead and left me to my thoughts. Cue in _I Would Walk 500 Miles_, it was actually nice motivating background music.

Smiling to those who waved to me, I kept jogging and reached the second residential area behind the marketplace section. Namimori could be simply split into different sections: four residential areas, a marketplace area, the forest and the business area. Depending on which route I ran, I could technically pass through all of them.

Deciding to take a random route (and hopefully a shorter one), I continued, lightly panting.

_I'm only twenty-something and I'm already getting tired. Geez, should've went to the gym after classes…but stuuuudyy. And fooooood…._

This area seemed to be the richer side, the houses were a lot more bigger and fancier architecture, there was also more well cared for elaborate garden designs in front of the houses.

"No!"

Screeching to a halt, I twisted around trying to find the location of the scared voice. A girl with purple-tinted hair had her arm grasped by a male, he was trying to force her into a nearby van.

_Oh hell no!_

Darting full-speed at the man, I barreled right into him using my shoulder. "Get away from her!"

"What the-?"

Quickly grabbing onto the girl's hand we bolted away from the scene and into a park bustling with parents and children. Panting, I turned to the girl. "Are you alright?"

"Y-yes, t-thank you."

The girl was probably around Tsuna and Takeshi's age. Large purple eyes looked back worriedly as if searching for the kidnapper, though her right eye was almost covered by her purple hair. Dressed in a simple white dress, she completed the image of an innocent angel ready to be preyed by perverted kidnappers.

_She kinda looks familiar…where have I seen her before?_

Wiping my bangs back, I almost felt like an ape next to her since I was sweating and probably red-faced. "Sorry about that, are you okay? We should go to the police-"

She stiffened and shook her head, latching onto my arm she pleaded, "No! Don't!"

Noticing the stares of the surrounding parents, I nodded and gently led the shaking girl to sit on a park bench slightly hidden from view, it'll give us a bit more privacy. "It's okay, don't worry I won't go to the police."

"T-thank you."

"Are you being blackmailed? I know someone who is pretty good at finding criminals and giving them discipline."

She shook her head. "I-it's fine."

"If you say so. But I really think you should report that man, who knows when he'll attack you or other girls again."

"That man… " She softly said. "He was my husband-to-be."

"W-what!?"

"My step-father wanted to improve his connections for his business." She shrugged. "Like a bargaining chip or something."

"What about your mom? What did she say?"

The rueful smile she gave me made me want to punch something, preferably her dad. "My mom, she…she really loved my birth dad, but dad passed away and she remarried a man on a whim hoping to forget. I think she was hoping this marriage would get rid of me, I always looked more like dad than her."

"That's horrible…"

The girl simply smiled back at me, a gentle smile stained with of pain and longing. "They weren't bad parents, not really. There were still happy memories, but if me not being there makes them happier, then I'll keep my distance. Probably by now I'm disowned since I've caused them shame."

"…"

"Please don't make that face, I can start a new life." She gave me another small smile. "I-it might even fun."

Lifting a hand, I brushed her cheek and showed her the lingering wetness. "Ah, I'm crying?" She scrubbed her face, desperately trying to stop the tears. "Why…"

She didn't stop me from hugging her, burying her face into my shirt I felt her shoulders shake but no sound came out of her tiny body. Similar to how I comforted Tsuna, I gently rocked back and forth, waiting until she was ready to let go.

The adolescents here in Namimori suffer so much.

"I'm sorry…"

"It's alright."

She lifted her face, slightly blushing. "Thank you for listening to me."

Grinning, I said it was no problem but my face turned thoughtful. "What are you going to do now?"

"I…don't know."

"Would you like to come with me?" Wide, purple eyes stared back at me. "Ah, until you find a new place! Sorry, I didn't mean to sound creepy."

"Thank you!" I laughed when she gave me a grateful flying hug.

"I didn't introduce myself did I? I'm Amaya, Maya for short."

"My name is Nagi."

"Nagi huh? Can I call you Nagi-chan?"

_Cute name, I feel like I've heard it before…_

"Yes!" Nagi smiled at me with a cute little tilt, when she moved her head her right eye was covered by her bangs. In my eyes her white dress was replaced by a olive green school uniform and an eye-patch covered her right eye instead of her hair.

_Oh._

If I had one of those anime light bulbs above my head it would've probably hit me for being so slow before lighting up in recognition.

Before she was known as Dokuro Chrome, she was known as Nagi. I just found Mukuro's counterpart and one of Tsuna's Mist Guardians.

_Aw hell, could this be anymore confusing?_

* * *

Hoping that Kyouya wouldn't mind me making his house the new place for Nagi to live in, I led her to Kyouya's residence. There was no way I could bring Nagi to Tsuyoshi-san's place, it wasn't really my house and there was no room, Kyouya's was different. While we were walking I described to her who else would be living in the house.

"…and Tsuna is shy, but once you get to know him it's sometimes hard to get him to stop talking." Turning around the corner, I stood still in shock. "The hell…?"

"Reborn! How could you!?"

"It's your fault for being cowardly."

"Haha, at least she didn't hit you Tsuna!"

"Takeshi, don't laugh!"

"What have you done, baby?"

In front of Nagi and me were Tsuna, Takeshi, Kyouya and Reborn. Except…Tsuna was dressed only in his underwear and flailing his arms around at Reborn. Takeshi stood next to him laughing while Kyouya looked tempted to smack Reborn and Tsuna for causing a commotion.

_Oh, I guess Reborn used the Dying Will bullet on Tsuna…_

"Tsuna, you're going to catch a cold." Shrugging off my jacket, I threw it on top of his head. "And please cover up, we got an innocent girl over here."

"Eep!"

"Hello! Who are you?" Ahh Takeshi, sometimes him not being fazed by anything is a blessing.

Nagi slightly went behind me, couldn't blame her. "N-Nagi…"

Putting a hand on my hip, I raised an eyebrow, "Could anyone explain to me what happened?"

Kyouya stormed inside.

"Let's just go inside and I'll explain." Tsuna tearfully said and ran back inside, trying to tug my jacket to hide his boxers. Takeshi laughed and followed him.

"Um, I swear it's not like this all the time…"

"O-okay."

So apparently Tsuna and Takeshi had run into Sasagawa Kyoko, Namichuu's idol and Tsuna's crush. Reborn thought it was cowardly to not confess to your crush and decided to shoot Tsuna in the head with the Dying Will Bullet which causes your clothes to evaporate (thankfully the boxers were spared). Takeshi described it as a super-seiyan Tsuna appeared out of nowhere ad run full speed to Kyoko and confessed his love; unfortunately, Mochida her 'boyfriend' happened to be there and Tsuna now needs to face him in a kendo match so Mochida can claim Kyoko for himself.

I smoothed back Tsuna's hair to see unblemished skin, sighing in relief I flicked his head. It wasn't a big deal in the manga or anime, but being shot in the forehead is a terrifying thought. "Be careful in the match tomorrow."

Rubbing his head, Tsuna pouted. "It's impossible! Mochida is the captain of the kendo club!"

"You can win if you're quick." Takeshi said optimistically. "Dodge his strikes and hit when he's open."

Remembering how Mochida cheated in the manga, I pitched in my two cents, "Maybe don't wear the kendo outfit, it'll slow you down."

"But then it'll hurt…"

Kyouya coughed, "Amaya, Tsunayoshi, enough. Who is this?"

Nagi quickly sat up straight and bowed, "N-nice to meet you! My name is Nagi!"

"I'm Takeshi!"

"T-Tsuna…"

"Ciaossu! I'm Reborn, the greatest hitman in the world."

"Hmph. And what are you doing here?"

"Ah Kyouya!" Time for the secret attack: huge watery puppy eyes. I gestured to Tsuna to join me, my eyes didn't work that well behind my glasses. "Can Nagi please stay here? I'll cover her expenses. Pleaaaaaase!"

"M-Maya-san you don't need too!"

"Shhh!" I winked and continued throwing the big puppy eyes at Kyouya. "Please?"

"Why."

"Ahh…well…things happen. Ahaha..haha…" Kyouya looked unimpressed, his eyes slid over to Nagi, then to Reborn, and back to me. I grimaced, of course he wouldn't be able to trust someone that easily after Reborn came in. How could I explain in the future she would be a guardian to Tsuna? Or even the concepts of flames and how helpful she'll be with her illusions? "Well you see…"

"I no longer have a home." Nagi's quiet voice cut through the room. "Thank you Maya-san, but I don't want to trouble you. I'll take my leave now."

Latching onto her arm, I stopped Nagi from leaving. "You're not troubling me at all! Kyouya come on! I trust her and you have a lot of room here!" I pleaded once more, I really didn't want her living in the abandon Kokuyo place anymore. "Also I would like another female here! Testosterone is too strong here sometimes."

Kyouya and I held a staring contest until he huffed, "Do as you like."

"Yay!" I threw my hands up and hugged Nagi. "You'll like it here, Nagi-chan!"

"A-are you sure?"

"Yup!"

"Haha, welcome to the family, Nagi!"

"W-welcome, Nagi-chan."

Reborn eyed Nagi carefully, before smirking. "Isn't that good Tsuna, you got another Family member."

"Reborn…" Tsuna worriedly muttered.

"Relax, she's not as weak as you think." Reborn replied mysteriously.

_I wonder if he can sense the mist flames in Nagi? But were the mist flames activated because of Mukuro…but Mukuro was able to talk to Nagi because she was injured in the hospital and Nagi wasn't supposed to appear until after the Kokuyo arc…this is so confusing! Why is everything out of order?_

Raking my hand through my hair, I gave up trying to understand the universe. The falling sun told me it was time to start preparing dinner. "Nagi-chan, are you okay with katsudon for dinner?"

"Y-yes!"

Ruffling her hair, I accepted her offer to help me with dinner. Noticing that Tsuna looked more tired than usual, I ordered him to not move. Grabbing a container from the fridge that I prepared earlier, I made the boys eat lemon slices soaked in honey.

_Thank goodness I watched that basketball anime for food that athletes need to eat to get some energy back. Maybe I should've let the lemons whole and soaked them like that just to mess around._

Nagi lightly tossed the salad while I cut the onions. Passing the pork to Nagi to tenderize, I tried finding the box of breadcrumbs hidden somewhere in the back of the cupboard. "M-Maya-san?"

"Hm?"

"W-why are you helping me?"

I stuck my head out, Nagi shrunk into herself and twiddled her thumbs. "Nagi-chan?"

"Y-yes?"

"I like you." I said simply. I didn't want to think too hard on the reason why, sure I knew in the future she would be Tsuna's Guardian, but beyond that Nagi is a sweet girl; a kind, sweet but lonely girl with unfortunate family members. Her story wasn't unlike the boys in this household. "I just want to help you because I like you."

_Geez, everyone here has horrible parents…_

A tiny, sincere smile appeared on Nagi's face and she continued preparing dinner. Tsuna, Takeshi, and Kyouya joined us in the kitchen, chatting with us to get to know the new member of the household.

I watched Nagi giggle softly at Takeshi's antics, Tsuna trying to stop Reborn from stealing his pork and Kyouya who watched everyone with a resigned look on his face. When his gazed settled on me, I gave him a look, tilting my head at our two 'younger brothers' and possibly our new younger sister, as if daring him to say anything about the current arrangements. Kyouya shook his head and sighed. I smiled and lightly nudged him.

"If Tsuna doesn't say anything, then it's fine. Trust his instincts and mine, I'm not going to bring anyone horrible home."

"Whatever."

"I'll also cover her costs, I'm going to see if she wants to transfer to Namichuu with you guys."

"Meddler."

"Heh."

Kyouya let out another puff of air, he folding his hands into his yukata.

"She won't be the only one, will she?"

_It's like he can look into the future too! _

"Um."

Kyouya only sighed. "As long as nothing is damaged."

_That…might be hard with dynamites and grenades…Sorry Kyouya, your house might suffer some damage, but the Vongola will cover it!_

Guiltily avoiding Kyouya's gaze, I joined in the younger sibling's conversation.

Looking at Nagi and how at ease she became with Tsuna and Takeshi, I hoped my meddling made Nagi's life a bit easier. She became friends with Tsuna sooner and now lives in a house instead of in the future an abandoned place.

_Please, if there is a God somewhere, kami-sama, please don't make her lose her eye and organs…_

But of course, I found out later, my meddling would be no good at all.

Fate will always play its cards, someway or another, no matter how much I meddle.

* * *

_A/N: _Wheeee another chapter. Anyone surprised I decided Nagi-chan would be the first one to show up out of everyone else?


	6. Target 3: Chaotic Trio

Target III: Chaotic Trio  
-SkyFinal

* * *

After Nagi moved into Kyouya's place life resumed normally. Well…depending on what the definition of normal was.

Reborn woke Takeshi and Tsuna up with gunshots (blanks fortunately) and had them running to school. Thankfully since Kyouya and Nagi are early risers, and thus were not waking up in fright to the gunshot noises (like me), they could at least have a nice breakfast and bring bento boxes to the two boys since they were spared from running early in the morning.

Nagi, sweet soul, took everything into stride. She was still quite shy but was gradually warming up to us, as well as the craziness happening around the Hibari household. It was quite endearing to see Tsuna, Takeshi and Kyouya acting all sweet and awkward to Nagi. I don't think she really understood what was happening with Tsuna and the mafia, I only told her we were dealing with something that could be dangerous, but she was interested learning self-defense and didn't want to leave.

I wasn't sure if it was because of fate or because she had nowhere else to go.

Reborn still made me run during the weekends so I wouldn't be too tired for work during the weekdays, saying to build up my stamina and get rid of my extra fat (not my fault people here in Namimori were really petite). Nagi joined me sometimes too; surprisingly she was quite adamant in getting exercise and would encourage me to go faster during our run.

"Oi, stop spacing around." Reborn jumped onto the counter. It was another Saturday evening and everyone was at Kyouya's to relax and study. I was the only one in the house, Tsuna went to get Takeshi from the dojo where he was learning his father's sword style. When Takeshi expressed his desire to learn the Shigure Soen Ryu, Tsuyoshi was static and decided to close TakeSushi on Saturdays from now on in order to train his son.

Kyouya and Nagi went to get supplies for school, since it's been almost a month of the new school term, Nagi would be able to transfer to Namichuu. However, after running away from home without any preparations she left all her belongings behind. Kyouya kindly took her out to shop since he was the one most familiar with what she needed as a first-year and also because he had the most time out of all of us. Before they left I snuck money into Kyouya's hand, I made sure Nagi didn't see.

That left me alone with Reborn. Not the greatest company in the world.

"Yes yes…"

"Hmm?" Reborn warned, his locusts flying around his face.

I shivered, Reborn found out my weakness about insects. I waved around my hand to make the locusts not land on the ingredients. "Reborn please, think about food safety. And I made panna cotta many times now, I won't screw up."

Reborn had the sweet tooth for Italian sweets and the number of times I had to make the pudding was insane, luckily cream wasn't too expensive but still, there were only so many things I could add to panna cotta to make it taste different.

"Hmph." The locusts flew away and I quickly opened a window to let them escape. "You and Nagi will be getting a tutor."

"Cool." Stirring the gelatin, it took me a while to let his announcement sink in. "Wait, what? Who?"

"My forth lover."

"Um, should we report her to the police?"

Reborn glared at me, he had no problem hitting Tsuna but he was against hitting females, lucky for me since I tend to sprout random crap and annoy Reborn…like now.

"No." I could feel the absolute scorn from that single word. "Bianchi will be arriving and will teach you and Nagi some self-defense. So at least if you get kidnapped you know how to escape until we rescue you."

"Hey now, Nagi and I don't need to be damsels in distress. We'll bust ourselves out from any danger."

The condescending stare Reborn gave me made me want to punch him so hard. Instead I decided to give Reborn's share of panna cotta a dash of vinegar when he wasn't looking. Biting my lip to avoid a verbal fight, I placed the dessert into the fridge.

_Bastard…_

"Maya-nee! Tadaima!"

"Okaeri!" I shouted back.

"Wǒ huí lái le!" A squeaky voice shouted back at me, I'm pretty sure that was Mandarin and the only Mandarin-speaking person was Kyouya…did he transform into a baby?

"Kyouya?"

"Ni hao!" A young girl in a traditional Chinese top bowed down to me, speaking in broken Japanese. "I-Pin, my name!"

Squatting, I introduced myself. "I'm Maya. Nice to meet you."

"We meet again, Maya-san."

"Fong-san!" The Storm Arcobaleno inclined his head, Lichi waving on top of his head, I scratched the monkey's head. "Nice to see you again too."

"Fong, what are you doing here?" Reborn demanded.

"Reborn, nice to see you once more. How long has it been?"

"Not long enough."

Fong hid his smile behind his sleeve. "Well, as you probably heard I had been looking for my apprentice. My search brought me back here in Namimori, where I happened to stop her assassination attempt at young Tsunayoshi."

"I-Pin sorry."

"It's okay, I-Pin." Tsuna reassured the younger girl, smiling gently down at her. "Well, it was scary but it was an honest mistake."

Takeshi laughed. "Yeah, no worries! Fong came by at the right time so no harm done!"

"My apologies." Fong said in behalf of I-Pin. "Her eyesight has become poor now."

_If I-Pin is here, I wonder if Lambo will come soon. Those two come in a pair anyways I think…_

"Would you like to have lunch with us, Fong-san, I-Pin-chan?" I asked.

"We wouldn't want to trouble you…"

"The more the merrier." Tsuna insisted. "Besides, I think Kyouya would like to see you again, Fong-san."

"K-Kyouya-san!?" I-Pin stuttered, blushing a bright red. "He, he comes!?"

Tsuna squawked as glowing dots started to appear on I-Pin's temple. "Not again!"

Confused, I edged away with everyone. Fong muttered something in Mandarin to I-Pin and the dots faded away. They kind of reminded me of Mahjong tiles, the circle kinds. Tsuna let out a big sigh in relief while Takeshi continued laughing, saying something about explosions and cool tricks.

_Oh yeah…I-Pin can blow up. _

"What is going on here?"

"Ack!"

Kyouya and Nagi had returned.

The dots reappeared once more in a faster pace, even Fong looked a bit more panicked now.

"jiù jiu, I-Pin." Kyouya muttered, he too backed away from I-Pin once he recognized what could happen. He motioned Nagi to stand behind him.

"Um guys…" I-Pin kept blushing and now sparks were coming out of her. "What should we do?"

"Yamamoto, throw her up to the sky." Reborn ordered.

"Ehh? But she'll get hurt!" Tsuna protested.

"Trust me, better she blew up the sky than the house."

"She will be fine, Tsunayoshi." Fong said to Tsuna. "She would not want to damage Kyouya's home."

"If you say so…"

"Here's go nothing!" Takeshi picked up I-Pin and his expression changed, winding has arm up he threw I-Pin up into the air with abnormal strength. "Up we go!"

We all watched I-Pin soar up into the air. Seconds later an explosion caused us to duck our heads. "Quick! Someone catch her!"

It was quite comedic to watch everyone scramble around to catch I-Pin, it was Nagi who silently stepped forward to catch the young assassin. Everyone sighed in relief.

Fong smoothed out his robes and folded his hands into his sleeves. "Well, shall we head inside now?"

Before we could take a step a piercing voice stopped us.

"Bwuhahaha! The Great Lambo arrives!"

_Aw hell._

A little boy with a gigantic afro hair jumped from out of nowhere in front of us. He was wearing a cow printed body suit and a set of horns in his hair, he was actually pretty cute if he didn't have snot running down his nose and dirt marring his face.

_I shouldn't have thought anything, why was I only right now and not before?_

"Hey kid, who are you?" Takeshi knelt down and stared in amazement at Lambo's hair. "Whoa, it's real hair!"

"Broccoli monster!" I-Pin shouted and moved to attack, but Nagi held on tight to her.

"Don't touch the Great Lambo's hair!" Quickly grabbing Takeshi's arm to avoid the grenade that was aiming at his face, Kyouya smacked it up in the air with his tonfa with his free hand.

"Haha! What cool toys kids have nowadays!"

I stared incredulously at him. "Takeshi…I have no words for you."

Staring back at Lambo, he was glaring at Reborn and he pulled out more grenades. "Do you remember me Reborn? The Great Lambo will now defeat you here!"

Reborn ignored Lambo.

"How dare you ignore me!" Several grenades flew into Reborn's directions but faster than the eye could see all seven flew back to Lambo and exploded. "Gupyaa!"

"Reborn!" Tsuna glared at his tutor. "He's just a kid!"

"And I'm a baby."

"We already established the fact that you aren't a baby!"

"Tolerate…" Lambo sniffed and reached into his hair.

"Whoa!"

"How did that fit in there!?"

A long, pink bazooka emerged from Lambo's hair. Logically thinking, there was no way that machine could fit into Lambo's hair, but it came out without any dents…maybe Lambo's hair is a version of Ding Dong's pocket.

"Take this Reborn!"

Lambo took aim…

"Reborn look out!"

…and fired at himself.

Pink smoke erupted from where Lambo stood. Coughing and waving at the smoke, Tsuna rushed towards Lambo's location. "H-hey! Are you okay?"

"Yare yare…"

The smoke cleared and a young man surfaced from it. He had short messy black hair and a small tattoo near his eye, the other one he kept closed. A black blazer was worn over a cow printed dress shirt, which was opened until you could see almost his entire chest.

_Annnd here's 10 plus Lambo. _

"Ah, he used the Ten-Year Bazooka huh." A lone green eye surveyed around looking at all of us, his gaze landed on Tsuna. "Oh, it's been a while seeing Tsuna-nii look this tiny."

"Are you…Lambo?"

Older Lambo nodded. "Yo, it's been a while Tsuna-nii. Take-nii, Kyou-nii, Maya-nee and Nagi-nee…it's good to see you too. How nostalgic." He murmured, nodding at those who he identified. Older Lambo then turned to Reborn. "Hey, be nice to my younger self okay?"

"Humph."

"Same as ever." Older Lambo shrugged. "Five minutes is almost up too..."

"Romeo! You bastard!"

A purple mess flew into the direction of Older Lambo's head, he squealed and ducked. "Aw man, not this again!"

"Prepare yourself!"

A beautiful pink-haired woman, holding two purple _something_, came out from a bush and threw said _something _at Older Lambo. He dodged and the purple glob landed on the grass, dissolving the foliage. Kyouya growled at the damage to his home.

"Hiie!"

"Bianchi, you're here early." Wow, such excitement there Reborn, and I thought she was your lover?

"Reborn!" You could see the hearts floating from Bianchi, she ran forward to scoop the hitman into her arms. "I missed you so much!"

"Good distraction Reborn!" Older Lambo sighed, he saluted to Tsuna and the rest of us. "Well, time's up! Good luck with the upcoming fights!"

Turning to Nagi he mouthed a single word, his face remorseful and guilty. Before Nagi could ask what he meant pink smoke gushed out again and baby Lambo popped back into existence. "Gupyaa?"

If one was to take a step back and look at the scenery, you can see smoking, dying greenery, a woman cuddling a baby into her face and a young cow-printed suit wearing baby bawling his eyes out in front of the Hibari mansion. You'll also see a group of stupefied people standing there just wondering what the hell happened in the last ten minutes.

"Herbivores…" You'll also see the angry tick mark forming on Kyouya's head. "I'll bite you to death!"

Finally, the scenery ends when Kyouya punishes everyone in a fit of rage. More purple globs of something will be flying around, more grenades exploding everywhere, Takeshi's laughter, Tsuna's shriek and Fong and I-Pin doing Tai Chi in the back.

"I swear it's not like this all the time, Nagi-chan."

"If you say so…"

Even Nagi didn't believe me anymore.

* * *

"So she's your forth lover and here to train Nagi-chan and Maya-nee, he's someone from the Bovino Family and wants to kill you and used something called the Ten-Year Bazooka which is a time-traveling bazooka?"

"Correct."

"Unbelievable."

Reborn jumped from Bianchi's lap and kicked Tsuna. This must happen regularly as Tsuna barely flinched from the hit.

"Ow."

"Dame-Tsuna, what's hard to believe?"

"Oh, maybe the fact that a grown woman is your _forth_ lover, meaning there were three other women who were your lover, so we possibly have a case of pedophiles going after babies." Tsuna sarcastically retorted. "And time-traveling? Seriously?"

He earned another kick on the head.

"Regardless, everything that happened was real." Reborn jumped back onto Bianchi's lap. Secretly I think he wants to get closer to her chest. Reborn glared at me. Oops right, he can read minds, teehee.

"Bianchi, did you bring what I asked?"

"Yes." Bianchi reached behind her and rummaged through her bag, she brought out two long and thin packages wrapped neatly. Unfolding one, she revealed three sticks attached by chains. Whipping it in the air, it snapped into a long bo staff, she threw it towards Nagi who clumsily caught it.

The other was a beautiful rapier. It was thin, made of silver and swirls of silver acted as the hand guard. Bianchi held the blade and handed me the grip, I took it and stared at the sword in wonder. "It's beautiful…"

"You won't use it until I can trust you with it." Bianchi warned, I flipped the blade and gave it back to her.

"Gotcha, I might cut myself."

"As for you," Bianchi nodded to Nagi. "I chose the bo staff because it can give you a longer range, gives you enough time to run if the opponent is too strong."

"O-okay."

"Bianchi is also known as the Poison Scorpion. As you already have seen, she specializes in poison cooking."

"Then those purple blobs were actually food?"

"Yes, I don't know why but every time I cook something, it turns out that way." Bianchi looked truly confused. "But I can guarantee it tastes great!"

_Something that dissolves vegetation should not be eaten…_

"So why did you attack Older Lambo anyways?" Takeshi asked.

Bianchi grimaced, "He looked like my ex-boyfriend, Romeo. He was horrible to me! Every time I see something that reminds me of him I just need to attack him for what he has done to me!"

Takeshi leaned back, away from the angry woman. "I see…"

"Guess we'll be training from now on together Nagi-chan, yoroshiku!"

Nagi grinned. "Yes!"

"Are you really okay with this, Nagi-chan?" Tsuna worriedly asked.

"I-I'll be fine Tsuna-kun. At least this way I can learn how to defend myself from kidnappers."

"Okay…"

"Haha, maybe we can fight each other Maya-nee, since we both use swords."

"I don't have any confidence against you."

"Aw."

Kyouya sighed. "More herbivores are going to live here, aren't they?"

Lambo and Bianchi stared up, looking innocently at Kyouya.

"Wherever Reborn is, I'll stay!"

"Bwuahaha, Reborn must be defeated by me!"

I shrugged at Kyouya. "Sorry, but you are the one with space for all of them."

"This isn't an shelter for strays, Amaya."

"Hey, he called you Kyou-nii. He's sticking with us for a long time if you let him call you that."

"I regret letting you."

"Kyouya, please. Bianchi-san is going to teach Maya-nee and Nagi-chan how to defend themselves, this is the least we could do." Tsuna reminded, "Also, we can't just let a kid live on the streets."

"Until his family gets him back, yeah?" Takeshi added.

"Boss told The Great Lambo to not come back until I eliminated Reborn." Lambo said as he stuck a finger up his nose. "The Great Lambo won't go back until Reborn dies and I'll show everyone that The Great Lambo is great!"

"So…the boss of the Bovino ordered you to kill Reborn, the greatest hitman in the world, and you can't go back to your family until then?"

"Yeah."

"What kind of boss is that!?"

"Don't insult Lambo's father! He's way cooler than you!" The cow-baby screeched.

Tsuna looked at Lambo in disbelief. "Your _father_ was the one who ordered you to do this?"

"W-what about your mother, Lambo-kun?" Nagi asked quietly.

"Mom passed away when I was two." Lambo huffed out. "Father didn't have time to take care of me, so he's been giving me missions to do! He said if I did this mission then he'll make me his second-in-command!"

Everyone else glanced at each other, after hearing the kid's story we knew something was fishy about Lambo's dad. Who on earth sends their kid to fight against someone he can't beat? Ridiculous. It was Reborn who shared more details on the Bovino Famiglia.

"Bovino Famiglia is a weak family, hardly significant compared to the Vongola. However, they are well known for their weaponry. Lambo here is the runt of the family, he's been pretty famous for being annoying and just generally useless. I heard he went on countless assassination missions and actually succeeded. How he survived this long it's a mystery."

Ah.

"Hey hey! Lambo is hungry! Why is everyone not moving!? I want dinner!" Lambo wailed, demanding attention. Nagi was the one to bring Lambo into a hug, she also knew the feeling of being used by parents and not feeling loved at all.

_How many times...how many times will I think of this? The children in this world are treated so cruelly, he's so young but he's already has skeletons in his closet. _

"Lambo, dinner will be soon." I said soothingly. "Just give me a few minutes to finish it, we got more people than I thought."

"Lambo wants it now!"

"Lambo, you must wait." Nagi, true to her name, said it comfortingly. She smoothed back his hair. "If you're patient you'll get what you want."

Lambo became silent, listening to Nagi's words. He snuggled closer to Nagi and hugged her, she smiled and hugged him back.

I stared in admiration at the girl, already Lambo was annoying me but Nagi just dealt with it so good-naturedly. "Nagi-chan, you're an angel."

She blushed.

"Alright." I stretched and stood, I wanted to get out of this depressing atmosphere. "Takeshi, could you set up from rooms for Bianchi-san and Lambo? Preferably Lambo's closer to Nagi-chan's room so he's a bit farther away from Kyouya's. Tsuna, help me with dinner?"

* * *

Dinner actually went smoothly, besides the fact that Reborn switched his panna cotta with mine. Vinegar and cream do _not _go together well.

"Ready girls?"

Bianchi wanted to test Nagi and I after dinner. She brought us out to the backyard with two straw dummies out and handed Nagi first a sword. "Cut one in half."

Nagi swung and cut the dummy in half, I whistled. Girl got more power than I thought. She handed the sword to me and before I could swing Bianchi stopped me. "Wait, do it with one hand."

"Okay?" Holding the sword in my right hand, I swung. "Ack!"

I nearly toppled, the sword only went through halfway of the dummy's body.

"I thought so." Bianchi crossed her arms. "Since you're going to be using a rapier, I needed to check if you had the arm muscles."

"Ahaha…."

"Nagi is fine, but you, Maya, need to work on your arm strength. Do thirty push-ups and lift those weights ten times on each arm, five sets. I'll gradually increase it as you get stronger."

I groaned.

* * *

I plopped down onto the tatami mat face first. My glasses I already took them off, so the concern of embedding glass into my eye was not relevant.

"Are you okay Maya-nee?"

"Tsuna, I don't know how you do it. I'm so tired..."

"You get used to it."

Twisting my head so I could face Tsuna I replied, "That's true. At least I'm not the one being woken up by Reborn."

Nagi sat next to me, finished with putting Lambo to bed. She shoved a mat underneath my head so I wouldn't get marks on my face, also it was comfier, bless her soul. "Bianchi-san seems nice."

I waved my hand up, showing the weight attached to my wrist. "Hmmm." Weird, I was feeling more drowsy than usual; I couldn't even form words.

"Hey Tsuna," Takeshi questioned. "Do you think we'll get more people coming here?"

I hid my twitch and yawned. _Damn, I'm really pathetic for getting tired over running and building arm muscle._

"I think so, Reborn did say I had to find my guardians…"

"What are you talking about?" Nagi curiously looked at the boys.

Tsuna explained everything about the Vongola Guardians, including his heritage and what he had to become. He explained why everyone around him could be put into danger and probably from here on out it would only get crazier.

"Sometimes…I dream." Tsuna said. "Or more likely…see visions? When I-Pin came and attacked me, I saw for a second in another time we were on the school rooftop. Takeshi was there, but Nagi-chan wasn't but another boy was. I couldn't see his face though. Other times I saw people that were friendly with us, people we haven't met yet. Other times…not so friendly…"

_Visions? Is it his intuition? I thought only Yuni got those visions…_

"You think that boy will come?"

"Yeah." Tsuna turned to Nagi. "Remember what Older Lambo said to us? 'Good luck on the upcoming fights.'. You can still leave Nagi-chan, I'll make sure Vongola will help you wherever you want to go."

Nagi shook her head. "I'll stay, this is the first time I felt so much at home, Tsuna-kun. Older Lambo also called me Nagi-nee, I never had someone considered me as a sibling. I'm _loved_ for the first time, please don't take that away from me."

"Nagi-chan…"

_Nagi…_

My last thought before I fell asleep.

* * *

"_Welcome again."_

_Yawning, I kept my eyes closed. "Hey. Another check-up?"_

_Laughter. "You could say it like that, but yes. I wanted to see how things are going."_

"_Well besides the order of people showing up is messed up, everything I guess is going well."_

"_Yes…a minor concern but can be looked over."_

_I opened my eyes and looked at the shadow. "Is it alright though? It's becoming really different from I remembered watching and reading."_

"_Well, the disturbance in the timeline may be a worry but everything that needs to happen will happen on its own accord."_

_A jolt of unease went through me. "E-everything?"_

"_I'm sorry, but it needs to happen."_

_Bitterness choked me from speaking. I shook my head, trying to collect my thoughts. "Please, there must be another way. Can't I stop it?"_

"_Kufufufu…"_

_I whirled around. "Hell no, that better be not who I'm thinking."_

"_Oya oya, what is this? Such a disturbance in the realm of the sleeping."_

"_You are not welcomed here, mist-user."_

"_Forgive my curiosity, I just had to investigate over here."_

"_Leave." This was the first time I heard the normally happy voice turn so cold, so stern._

"_I shall take my leave." The intruder's voice remained amused. "However, there is still one thing I need to guarantee." _

_Gloved hands gripped my chin and forced me to stare into heterochromatic eyes, the kanji for six glowing._

"_You cannot interfere with fate, it is naïve to think so. I'll have you forget until that day happens. I still need her for my use."_

_A sharp pain went through my head and I knew no more._

* * *

"-up! Maya-nee wake up!"

Tsuna, Takeshi, Kyouya and Nagi filled my sight when I opened my eyes. The former helped me sit up and I rubbed my head. It hurt for some reason, like I bashed it against a wall or something.

"What's wrong?"

Takeshi spoke. "Maya-nee…you were having a nightmare."

"Oh." I laughed, "It was probably another nightmare about doing training with Bianchi-san."

"But you're crying." Nagi softly said.

"Eh?" I used the back of my hand and felt water on my face. "I don't…I must really hate training then haha."

The tears didn't stop.

I couldn't remember why.

"Sorry." I kept repeating the word without knowing why. The other three didn't say anything but sat next to me, silently giving me support and company.

"Sorry."

* * *

_A/N: _Sorry for throwing a bit more Japanese there, but I like to keep tadaima, okaeri, and yoroshiku as it is. Thank you for all the follows and favourites!

Can you tell I want to get over with introducing everyone? Haha, I threw in three people in one chapter.


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